Read between the lines.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has lashed out at Western sanctions against him, condemning "bloody whites" for meddling in Zimbabwe's affairs, on the eve of a landmark visit by an EU delegation.

As the European Union and South Africa issued a joint call for Zimbabwe's political rivals to make their troubled unity government, the country's veteran ruler said he would not brook outside interference in Harare's affairs.

By Reagan Mashavava, AAP

"Who said the British and the Americans should rule over others? That's why we say down with you. We have not invited these bloody whites. They want to poke their nose into our own affairs. Refuse that," he said.

"We have stood firm and we have refused to let go. Zimbabwe, sanctions or no sanctions, Zimbabwe remains ours," the 85-year-old told a gathering of his ZANU-PF party's youth wing.

Mugabe spoke ahead of the first EU high-level visit in seven years led by aid commissioner Karel De Gucht to work to normalising relations, following a summit in South Africa which is pushing for sanctions to be lifted.

The delegation is to meet Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who joined him in a unity government in February a year after disputed polls pushed Zimbabwe further into crisis.

The EU and the United States first imposed sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle following a disputed presidential poll in 2002, which Western nations as well as independent local poll monitors described as flawed.

The sanctions are meant to target Mugabe and his inner circle and include a travel ban and a freeze on their bank accounts.

"Why are they sanctions? Why are our people being punished? It is because the imperialists want our heritage," said Mugabe.

De Gucht on Friday said the mission was "not about naming and blaming" after the state-run Herald quoted a government official saying the bloc must admit it was wrong to impose sanctions.

"It's not about excuses and disputes; it is a mission aiming at trying to find common ground so we can make progress with the political agreement and reinvigorate full co-operation with Zimbabwe," he said.

Mugabe appeared to score a diplomatic triumph this week when regional leaders called for the end to the sanctions, with South Africa's President Jacob Zuma pledging on Thursday to continue lobbying the EU over the matter.

A joint communique following a EU-South Africa summit on Friday urged Zimbabwe's parties to make their troubled unity government work, but made no mention of the clashing views from Brussels and Pretoria over sanctions.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU presidency, said on Thursday penalties would remain and that mismanagement and poor human rights record, and not sanctions, were behind the country's problems.

Mugabe on Friday also insisted he would not back down from his controversial land reforms launched nine years ago, which saw white-owned farms resettled with blacks in a bid to redress colonial-era inequities.

The chaotic reforms were accompanied by political violence, while agricultural production plunged, leaving the nation dependent on food aid.

"There is no reversal of the land reform program at all," Mugabe said.

"The land reform exercise is irreversible. Those who have sought relief from outside Zimbabwe should know that land acquisition is through legal means and for that reason, the noises they make will simply frustrate them more," he said.

The unity government has acted to steer the country's return to stability and rebuild the hyperinflation-ravaged economy and basic services that collapsed under Mugabe's three decades of rule.

But the government has been plagued by power struggles over key posts and claims of continued persecution of Tsvangirai's supporters, with Western states so far proving reluctant to give direct aid without proof of more reforms.

Several lawmakers from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party have been arrested, including its choice for deputy agriculture minister.