EU calls for quick and fresh elections in Zimbabwe

The European Union called on Friday for quick fresh elections in Zimbabwe, after President Robert Mugabe was returned to power in a widely condemned one-man poll last month.

The 27-nation EU said that the goal of any solution to the crisis "must be to reconsult the Zimbabwean people on a free, democratic and transparent basis as quickly as possible."

"Only this can provide a long-term response to the serious difficulties currently being faced in Zimbabwe, which are threatening regional stability," a statement said.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mugabe – the country's leader since independence – in the first round of presidential poll held in March, but withdrew from a second round run-off amid spiralling campaign violence.

Calling "an immediate end to all forms of violence," the EU said that it "cannot accept the fait accompli of the outcome of the vote of 27 June," which returned the 84-year-old leader to office.

It also said it "intends to offer its support to the Zimbabwean people, and is prepared to examine any appropriate individual measure against the perpetrators of violence at the earliest possible opportunity."

The EU has extensive sanctions in place against Zimbabwe, including an arms embargo and a travel ban on Mugabe and other senior officials.

They were sanctions on Mugabe and his associates after the long-serving ruler won elections in 2002 which the opposition insists were rigged.

In June last year, the bloc widened the travel ban and imposed an assets freeze on Zimbabweans deemed responsible for the country's "rapidly deteriorating human rights, political and economic situation."