EU dodges East Timor issue in talks

EU dodges East Timor issue in talks

By Medyatama Suryodiningrat

SINGAPORE (JP): The European Union yesterday skirted the issue
of East Timor during a dialog with their ASEAN counterparts,
despite initially expressing a determination to press the issue
during the meeting.

At the end of the first day of the 12th dialog meeting between
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU
here yesterday, Indonesia expressed satisfaction only a fleeting
reference to East Timor was made.

The 15 European foreign ministers and their seven ASEAN
counterparts agreed East Timor would only be mentioned by the EU
president, Dutch foreign minister Hans van Mierlo, and briefly
replied by the ASEAN co-chair of the meeting, Singapore's Foreign
Minister S. Jayakumar.

At the end of yesterday's meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister
Ali Alatas expressed satisfaction at proceedings.

"We are satisfied with the arrangement because East Timor was
not included in the agenda, was not discussed at all and there
was only a short reference in the EU president's speech, and that
was only one or two sentences," Alatas said.

Alatas' account of the proceedings was separately confirmed by
Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi: "No, it was not
discussed," Badawi said. "There was only a brief reference."

Earlier yesterday Alatas told journalists here Portugal was
blocking a new treaty between Europe and Southeast Asia over the
issue of East Timor.

"(East Timor) was one of the issues used by Portugal to
prevent a new-generation agreement to be signed by the two sides
and of course we deeply regret it," Alatas said.

"Right now, we're cooperating on the basis of the old
agreement with some modifications," he said, adding Indonesia was
willing to discuss the East Timor issue with Portugal at the
appropriate forum.

There had been wide speculation the issue of East Timor and
Myanmar would peeve the two-day dialog meeting.

Some EU members before the meeting appeared poised to confront
ASEAN on the issue.

Indonesia, with the backing of other ASEAN members, was
adamant the ASEAN-EU dialog was not the appropriate forum to
discuss a bilateral issue such as East Timor.

ASEAN would like the discussions to focus on enhancing
economic and cultural relations.

"Indonesia always says that it (East Timor) should not be on
the agenda, not be discussed (in the ASEAN-EU dialog)," Alatas
said yesterday.

He added he had no plans to meet with his Portuguese
counterpart while in Singapore.

The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as
part of Indonesia in 1976. However no EU country has recognized
the integration.

The EU comprises Austria, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Separately Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama remained
upbeat after the meeting yesterday and appeared satisfied the
issue was still touched upon, albeit briefly.

"No issue can be denied the right to be referred in a proper
manner and the European Union could not accept the pressure for
not raising it," Gama said referring to ASEAN's warnings not to
bring up the issue.

Aside from East Timor, the sensitive issue of Myanmar was also
raised by the EU but in the casual setting of a working lunch.

Badawi said the lunch time discussion "gave the EU a better
understanding of how we see Myanmar."

He argued differences on the issue centered around how the
respective groupings approached the issue, not a question of
human rights.

The EU has reproached Yangon for its human rights record and
advocates a policy of isolation against the ruling junta. ASEAN
however pursues a policy of constructive engagement with Myanmar,
a prospective member of the association.

In an opening reply the EU president Hans van Mierlo also said
that despite disagreements the maturity of the relationship
allowed them to be discussed openly and in the spirit of
searching a compromise.

The dialog meeting between the two-regional groupings will end
later today with a joint declaration which ministers hope can
chart a new partnership between Europe and ASEAN.

Economic ties -- Page 12