EU foreign ministers push Zimbabwe's Mugabe to ensure free and fair elections

EU foreign ministers on Monday pushed Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to ensure free and fair parliamentary and presidential elections later this month.

However, EU ministers said they were increasingly worried the African nation's dire political and economic state will endanger a vote that would meet international standards.

"We want to see elections that are properly free and fair," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said. "That's very difficult when you have got 3 to 4 million refugees outside the country."

Mugabe's government has not invited a European election monitoring mission to observe the March 29 vote amid still icy relations between the president and the 27-nation bloc, which has a long-standing travel ban and assets freeze in place against Mugabe and his top officials.

Miliband said economic and social conditions were continuing to deteriorate, but insisted Mugabe allow Zimbabwe citizens to vote freely.

"The voice of the people of Zimbabwe needs to be heard in free elections, in which they cast their votes done without ... fear," Miliband said.

The EU ministers in a statement said they would closely monitor the situation in Zimbabwe and "support efforts toward ensuring democracy, stability, economic recovery and respect for human rights."

Zimbabwe's economy continues to shrink amid rocketing inflation, shortages of basic food supplies and collapsing public services.

Problems began eight years ago when Mugabe ordered the seizure of white-owned farms, which caused a massive collapse in food production. Mugabe's political opponents, meanwhile, are regularly jailed, beaten and harassed.

Foreign aid and investment have dried up in seven years of political and economic turmoil.

Mugabe blames the crisis on economic sanctions imposed by Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial power, and its EU counterparts to protest his land reforms.

The EU has a slew of sanctions in place against Zimbabwe, including a travel ban against Mugabe to protest his poor human rights record.

The sanctions include a ban on 125 Zimbabwe government officials, ministers and those from Mugabe's Zimbabwe African Union-Patriotic Front party from traveling to the bloc.

The sanctions first were imposed in 2002 to protest human rights violations in Zimbabwe and Mugabe's dictatorial rule. The punitive measures also include a ban on arms sales and freeze on Zimbabwean assets in European banks.