The European Union on Monday called on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to step down as the southern African nation has plunged into a deep political crisis with spreading cholera and food shortages plaguing its poor population.
"It has been agreed among all the 27 Foreign Ministers of the EU that time has arrived for President Mugabe to step down," EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana announced at a press conference during the first-day talks of the EU Foreign Ministers' meeting in Brussels.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the rotating EU Presidency, said that "the price for the Zimbabwean people to pay is too high ... and sanctions should be against President Mugabe, not against the people."
According to Kouchner, the EU had added 11 more names to a list of 160 Zimbabweans -- including President Mugabe -- banned from visiting the bloc, a move meant to increase the pressure on Zimbabwe's Government.
However, Zimbabwean officials have dismissed such calls. Reports from the country quoted government officials as saying that as head of a sovereign state, President Mugabe would not resign due to foreign pressure.
The latest EU call came after the Zimbabwe Government and United Nations figures showed that more than 560 deaths and 12,500 cases of cholera had been recorded in Zimbabwe since August.
Inflation is getting higher and higher in Zimbabwe as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) would soon introduce a 200 million- Zimbabwean-dollar note.
Meanwhile, the political stalemate in Zimbabwe has not been resolved although the ruling party ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC hammered out a power-sharing deal on September 15.