Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and his Nordic counterparts on Friday expressed concern over the lack of a comprehensive result from March 29 elections in Zimbabwe, according to dpa. "It is important that we get an election result," Bildt said, adding the need for "a peaceful, democratic process." The meeting of foreign ministers coincided with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's ongoing visit to South Africa. The premier Friday met with, among others, Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition MDC party that claims victory in parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe, defeating President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party. "Mugabe is refusing to bow to the will of the people, so he is the greatest traitor," Tsvangirai was quoted as telling Norwegian news agency NTB after the meeting with Stoltenberg. Stoltenberg said he supported the calls for the election results to be released, adding that he had not been able to "foresee how bad things would get." The Norwegian leader earlier met with African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma and discussed Zimbabwe, but they said they did not support Tsvangirai's recent call that South African President Thabo Mbeki be replaced as mediator, NTB reported. Stoltenberg and Zuma noted that Mbeki had been appointed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and it was up to that organization to replace him or not. Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland have cut bilateral aid programmes to the government of President Robert Mugabe over concerns about corruption and misuse, but were prepared to mobilize support for a new, democratically elected government. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store told Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa that no sums had been discussed to help Zimbabwe but "international agencies like the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the World Bank have to consider how to stabilize the country with its sky-high inflation rate and an economy completely out of control." Bildt said Zimbabwe's neighbours and the African Union could contribute to the process in Zimbabwe, similar to that in Kenya where a coalition government was formed between rival factions. The ministers were also concerned over Moscow's decision to establish ties with two breakaway regions in Georgia. Bildt said the issue was due to be discussed at the United Nations Security Council next week. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller said the move by Russia was "the result of the (recent) decision not to invite Georgia to become a member of NATO." Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb was next week slated to meet his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in Moscow. Bildt underlined the benefits of Nordic cooperation in international peacekeeping efforts, noting he and his colleagues had also discussed Afghanistan, Chad, the Balkans and Sudan during their meeting. The countries were committed to back Iceland as a candidate for a seat on the UN Security Council later this year, Bildt said.
