Mugabe slams EU "arrogance," ignorance (Extra)

Dec 9, 2007, 14:41 GMT

Lisbon - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe hit back at European critics of his regime at the EU-Africa summit on Sunday, accusing them of ignorance and arrogance.

'Europe has said that there has been no summit for so long because of Zimbabwe. I beg to differ: it was because of arrogance on the EU side,' Mugabe said in a speech to 26 European and 53 African heads of government in Lisbon.

On Saturday, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel accused Mugabe of 'harming the image of the new Africa' by refusing to accept basic human rights and driving the Zimbabwean economy into meltdown.

Her criticisms were echoed by the leaders of Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

But Mugabe rejected all four, saying that their comments contradicted those of African observers.

'Does the German chancellor really think she has better knowledge of Zimbabwe than the Southern African Development Community (SADEC) and the African Union?' he asked.

Top EU officials such as the High Representative for foreign policy, Javier Solana, and the President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, stressed that the four countries had given the concerted opinion of the entire EU on the issue.

But Mugabe claimed that the comments were ordered by Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who refused to attend the summit because of Mugabe's presence.

'Why was Britain not here? Because Brown has his spokesmen with megaphones who spoke not from their own heart, but said what 10 Downing Street would be pleased to hear,' Mugabe said.

'The colonial power continually manipulates us and wants to change the government, but we say no, we have the right to determine our own future. We will never be a colony again!' he concluded.