ASEM may stall without Myanmar

ASEM may stall without Myanmar

HANOI (Reuters): Vietnam said on Tuesday that a planned European Union meeting with Southeast Asian countries would be shelved if Myanmar was not able to participate.

Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and several Scandinavian members of the EU have opposed granting a visa to Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung to attend the Berlin gathering because of the country's human rights record.

Vietnam Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said Myanmar enjoyed the same position in ASEAN (the Association of South East Asian Nations) as the other eight members.

"Vietnam considers Myanmar a full member of ASEAN and thus it should be allowed to participate in the ASEAN-EU meeting scheduled for March 30 in Berlin," Thanh said.