PARLIAMENT has been called upon to support President Mnangagwa’s re-engagement drive that has resulted in the recent launch of a formal dialogue process between Zimbabwe and the European Union (EU). 

The dialogue, launched in Harare last Wednesday, is based on Article 8 of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement which governs relations between member states of the African-Carribean-Pacific regions and the EU.

Zimbabwe and the European bloc have endured frosty relations in the past two decades and the dialogue opens a fresh page that will have major geopolitical implications and benefits for Zimbabwe, whose international relations soured domestic prospects for growth economically and socially.

The dialogue is being co-chaired by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Secretary Ambassador James Manzou and the Head of the EU Delegation to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Timo Olkkonen.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Zanu-PF Makonde legislator, Cde Kindness Paradza said the dialogue process paints a good picture of the country.  “Article 8 (of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement) on political dialogue, provides for parties to exchange information, foster mutual understanding and facilitate the establishment of agreed priorities and shared agendas among other objectives. 

“Hon Members may be pleased to know that Zimbabwe and the EU have been undertaking informal political dialogue over the years. The exchanges remained informal because Zimbabwe has been refusing to engage in formal dialogue insisting on the removal first of the EU sanctions imposed on the country,” he said. 

“However, since the advent of the Second Republic, His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa has repeatedly stated Government’s commitment to engage, re-engage and normalise relations with all players and Member States in the International Community.”