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.