EU, ASEAN ministers plan to meet in Laos

EU, ASEAN ministers plan to meet in Laos

BANGKOK (Reuters): Southeast Asian and European Union foreign
ministers have agreed to meet in Vientiane, Laos, in December, a
senior Thai official said on Thursday.

"We agreed to hold a meeting in the capital of Laos during
December 11-12 this year," Don Pramudwinai, director-general at
the Thai foreign ministry's information department, told
reporters.

Ministers had been due to meet earlier in the year but no
suitable dates could be found.

Don said the 13th ASEAN-EU ministerial meeting would aim to
strengthen political and economic ties between the two blocs.

The meeting will be the first since February 1997 when the
European Union protested against Myanmar joining the 10-country
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The issue of human rights in Myanmar had also been tabled for
talks between ASEAN and the EU due on Friday, he added.

EU officials attending Asian security talks in Bangkok said
they expected a European delegation to visit Myanmar soon,
possibly in late September or early October.

The military government in Yangon has been widely condemned
for crushing democracy and using citizens for forced labor.

ASEAN also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.