The summit of the European Union and African Union took place on 7-8 December 2007 in Lisbon without Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was absent in protest against the invitation to President Mugabe.
Although Zimbabwe was not on the official agenda, it is evident that the world is alive to its people's suffering as issues about Zimbabwe featured prominently during the course of the summit.
As more than 70 European and African leaders gathered in Lisbon to try and forge a new partnership between the world's largest trading bloc and poorest continent, German Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered a hard-worded speech to the summit in the presence of Robert Mugabe.
Trampled
She was quoted as saying: ‘..the world can not stand by while human rights were "trampled underfoot"… Zimbabwe concerns us all, in Europe and Africa…’ and ‘…the situation in Zimbabwe is serious, time is short, people there are in difficult conditions’.
In addition Merkel forcibly told Mugabe to ensure that this year’s elections are genuine, open, free and fair.
Upon his return to Zimbabwe, Mugabe acknowledged the attention on Zimbabwe.
Quoted in the Government-owned Zimbabwe Herald he said: ‘It was not a meeting to discuss Zimbabwe, but you just heard "Mugabe, Mugabe, Mugabe, Mugabe" and I said: "this is not my meeting" ’ (Zimbabwe Herald, 10 December 2007)
Meaningless
Despite his attendance and a lot of media coverage, Mugabe did not disrupt the summit.
In what seemed a meaningless gesture, he signed a pledge to uphold democracy and the rule of law in support of a new era of open politics.
The summit declaration stated: 'We are resolved to build a new strategic political partnership for the future, overcoming the traditional donor-recipient relationship and building on common values and goals in our pursuit of peace and stability, democracy and the rule of law, progress and development.'
The fact that Mugabe signed the declaration strengthens the basis for the EU to continue confronting the Zimbabwe leadership on its record on democracy and human rights.
Pressure
The challenge remains to sustain pressure for lasting change in Zimbabwe.
The main hope remains the SADC mediation initiative led by Thabo Mbeki.
Although this is going at a snail’s pace and is unlikely to result in a complete overhaul of the situation in Zimbabwe, it is however a step in the right direction.
It is the first official recognition of the crisis in Zimbabwe by both SADC and the African Union and it has become a litmus test to Thabo Mbeki’s popular defence, ‘African crises should be dealt with by African means’.
It is therefore important that Europe remains actively engaged on the crisis in Zimbabwe and particularly that pressure is applied to ensure the key benchmarks and timelines of the SADC initiative are met.