Foreign minister says EU to monitor developments in Madagascar

The Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has said the EU will closely monitor developments in Madagascar following what he described as a coup d’état there this week. On Tuesday, Andry Rajoelina was named the country’s new president by the military, a move widely-criticised as unconstitutional. Mr Schwarzenberg said late Thursday that the change had not been democratic. Following months of strikes and protest, the former president Marc Ravalomanana, was ousted after he transferred power to the military. The EU, the UN and the African Union have all rejected the development.