Dec 8, 2007, 1:48 GMT
Lisbon - European and African leaders gathered in Lisbon Friday for a summit that supporters say will revolutionize the relationship between the two continents.
But a row over the presence of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe threatened to overshadow the meeting, with human-rights groups and the Zimbabwean opposition accusing both sides of turning their back on human rights.
'Most African dictators and would-be dictators find it easier to stand in solidarity with Mugabe than with their suffering peoples,' said Ephraim Tapa, chairman of the British branch of Zimbabwean opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). 'This summit is quite a disgrace, especially for the EU.'
Organizers say the summit between the European Union and African Union is intended to launch a strategic partnership between the two continents on issues ranging from energy and migration to climate change, trade and health.
The EU and AU must create 'a more responsible and a more political partnership built on greater solidarity. If we fail, Lisbon will remain in the collective memory as a great missed opportunity,' EU Aid and Development Commissioner Louis Michel said.
'The future of the EU lies in this new relationship with Africa, and vice versa,' he added.
Starting on Friday evening, almost 80 heads of state and government from the EU and AU are set to hold two-and-a-half days of strategic talks hosted by the Portuguese government, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.
At the meeting, which is the second such summit ever and the first since the AU was created in 2002, the leaders are expected to agree on measures to improve their cooperation on economic, social and diplomatic issues - including in global forums such as the United Nations.
However, serious differences of opinion remain on issues of trade and human rights, in particular.
On trade, some African countries have accused the EU of trying to strong-arm them into accepting allegedly unfavourable trade deals known as Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), ahead of a World Trade Organization deadline at the end of the year.
And human rights also looks set to be an explosive issue. EU leaders have promised that the summit will involve a 'substantive' debate on human rights, including the situation in Zimbabwe, where Mugabe is accused of conducting a reign of terror and destroying the economy.
EU diplomats admit that risks splitting the summit into pro- and anti-Mugabe camps and derailing talks on other issues.
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced in September that he would boycott the summit if Mugabe attended, saying that Mugabe's presence would 'divert attention' from other key topics.
However, the boycott appears to have had the opposite effect, turning the spotlight on Mugabe. The Zimbabwean president arrived in Lisbon on Thursday after an EU travel ban was lifted.
'What shocks us is Portugal's behaviour in inviting him. If Mugabe can twist the EU's arm into breaking its own sanctions, what can he do to his powerless and poverty-stricken people?' Tapa asked.
Some of Mugabe's opponents supported Portugal's decision to invite Mugabe, however, saying that the summit is too important to abandon - a stance many EU leaders have also taken.
'The EU took the correct position. Mugabe is not bigger than two continents: he can't be allowed to stop the summit,' the president of the Zimbabwe National Students' Union, Promise Mkwananzi, said.
The summit opened on Friday evening with a concert and dinner. Delegates are to hold talks on Saturday and Sunday.
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