Burma gets nod for EU, Asean meet

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Headlines 

      Burma gets nod for EU,
      Asean meet

      THE European Union (EU) has finally
      agreed to allow Burma to attend an
      Asean-EU consultation to be held by the
      end of this year but toughened its sanctions
      against the ruling junta for its worsening
      human-rights record. 

      In a statement issued on Monday in
      Luxembourg, EU ministers said that
      because of the importance they placed on
      the EU's relationship with Asean they would
      accept the presence of Burmese
      representatives at the next meeting of a
      joint committee held under the 1980
      Asean-EU cooperation agreement. 

      It will not, however, allow Burma to join the
      cooperation agreement until there is
      tangible progress in the human-rights
      situation. 

      It also agreed to extend 1996 sanctions
      against the ruling regime to reflect its
      concern over the deteriorating situation in
      Burma. 

      The EU-Asean compromise will enable the
      Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC)
      meeting to be held before the end of this
      year after having been held up for over a
      year. 

      ''We believe the compromise we made is
      much more important than the formula
      itself,'' said EU director-general Emiliano
      Sossati, who was in Bangkok for a
      meeting. 

      The Thai Foreign Ministry Tuesday
      welcomed the EU's compromise over the
      formula. 

      Under the agreed formula Burma, which
      became an Asean member last July, will
      attend the meeting as an observer and ''will
      refrain from speaking if not necessary''. 

      Asean and EU flags will be used to
      represent the two sides at the meeting,
      dropping an earlier arrangement whereby
      national flags were to be used. 

      The latest formula was broached by
      Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan during the
      Asean-EU ministerial meeting on the
      sidelines of the Manila Asean annual
      meeting in July. 

      Permanent secretary Saroj Chavanaviraj
      said credit had also to be given to Burma
      for flexibility, sacrifice and the
      understanding that it had shown in
      accepting the formula for participation. 

      Burma acknowledges that it is not yet a
      party to the cooperation agreement and
      has accepted the modalities for the
      meeting in order not to pose an obstacle to
      Asean-EU relations. 

      Lauding the EU compromise, Saroj said
      Thailand, as the host of the JCC meeting,
      appreciated the importance attached by the
      EU to the EU-Asean relationship. 

      Saroj said, however, that he was concerned
      about the condition the EU had placed on
      Burma's future participation in the JCC
      meeting. 

      The EU ministers said in the same
      statement that Burmese participation in
      future such meetings would depend on
      improvement in the human-rights situation. 

      The ruling generals refused to recognise
      the results of the country's last general
      election in May 1990, which was won
      overwhelmingly by Nobel Peace laureate
      Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
      Democracy. 

      In the statement, EU ministers agreed to
      extend the EU's existing sanctions against
      Burma and widen them to include bans on
      transit visas for military authorities and entry
      visas for tourism officials. 

      With the widened ban on transit visas,
      Burmese military officers and members of
      the ruling State Peace and Development
      Council will no longer be able to travel via
      the EU to third countries. 

      The existing sanctions were adopted in
      October 1996 and were due to expire
      tomorrow. 

      They include the expulsion of military
      personnel attached to Burmese diplomatic
      missions in the EU, an arms embargo, a
      ban on entry visas for the country's leaders
      and the suspension of non-humanitarian aid
      and of high-level government visits. 

      The EU statement said the 15-nation EU
      would rigorously apply the visa ban to
      members of the ruling SPDC and members
      of the military as well as their families. 

      The ministers supported Suu Kyi's view that
      ''in the present situation it is inappropriate
      for tourists to visit Burma'', the statement
      said. 

      The ministers did not, however, adopt a
      ban on new investment or bar EU
      companies from providing services to the
      ruling council, measures that had been
      discussed. 

      After considering the ''deteriorating internal
      situation'' in Burma, ministers remained
      ''deeply concerned at the lack of a positive
      response from the Burmese authorities to
      the repeated calls for them to take steps
      towards the promotion of democracy and
      human rights and of national reconciliation'',
      the statement said. 

      Sossati said the EU hoped that this
      measure would help pressure the ruling
      junta to change its approach. 

      The Nation, Agencies