[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

EU/ASEAN/BURMA [afp]



Bid to salvage EU-Asean meeting 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

MYANMAR Foreign Minister Win Aung arrived here yesterday for a brief visit
during which he is expected to seek the Philippines' support for his
country's inclusion in a dialogue between Asean and the European Union,
officials said. 

He is expected to raise the issue when he meets his Philippine counterpart,
Domingo Siazon, during his three-day visit. 

The EU has opposed Myanmar's inclusion in a scheduled Asean-EU meeting in
Germany on March 30 to protest against alleged massive human rights
violations by the Yangon junta. 

Several EU states have threatened to boycott the meeting if Myanmar is
represented. Current EU sanctions include a visa ban which prevents senior
figures in Myanmar's junta from entering any EU country. 

Meanwhile, European Union foreign ministers who met in Germany yesterday
have agreed on a new initiative aimed at salvaging relations with Asean. 


The ministers proposed downgrading the EU-Asean ministerial meeting in
Berlin where instead of all 15 member states being present, the EU would be
represented by a troika of Austria, Germany and Finland. 

Myanmar and Laos joined Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam in 1997 to become Asean's newest members. --
AFP