Portugal has begun its six-month term at the helm of the European Union presidency, effective from 01 July 2007. There are a number of difficult and controversial issues that have been inherited.

One of the first announcements is an Africa-EU summit that will be hosted in Portugal in December. Portugal hosted the first-ever summit of the two continents in 2000. A second had been scheduled for 2003, but was 'indefinitely postponed' due to protest from other EU nations over the attendance of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

The December summit will focus on immigration and development, and will address a number of human rights issues inter-related to these problems. This is a critical point since President Mugabe currently has an EU travel ban against him, the same issue which postponed the 2003 summit.

A travel ban on senior officials provides for exemptions for meetings to discuss human rights. As one senior Portuguese official pointed out "He [Mugabe] will be hearing things he does not want to hear." Several African nations have threatened to boycott the summit if Mugabe is not allowed to attend.

Source: Workpermit Official Website

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