BRUSSELS: The European Union is set Monday to slap sanctions on Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo and any of his allies who dig in and refuse to recognise defeat at the polls last month.
A draft statement seen by AFP, penned by ambassadors of the 27-nation bloc and to be endorsed later in the day by foreign ministers, calls for a visa ban and a freeze on assets “against those obstructing peace” and “threatening the proper outcome of the electoral process.”
These measures, it says, “will notably target leaders who have refused to place themselves under the authority of the democratically elected president” — Gbagbo’s rival Alassane Ouattara. A list of people to be hit will be adopted “rapidly”.
Gbagbo is locked in a face-off with long-time enemy Ouattara after both claimed victory in last month’s presidential election, declared themselves president and named rival governments. Ouattara’s victory in the November 28 run-off round of the polls has been recognised by the United Nations and the international community, but Gbagbo retains control of the Ivorian army and the south, which is home to the country’s main cocoa-exporting harbours.
The draft statement also pledges EU “measures to support the democratically-elected authorities” of the West African nation and asks EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to come up with proposals. It also backed Africa’s response to the Ivorian crisis — the country’s suspension from both the 53-nation African Union and the regional bloc, the 15-member Economic Community of West African States.
The AU suspended Ivory Coast from its ranks last week “until the democratically elected president Alassane Ouattara takes power.” The United States has warned of sanctions too.
A letter from US President Barack Obama to Gbagbo “made clear that if he makes the wrong choice… we would look at possible sanctions against him and others if necessary,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
