EU vows more pressure on Yangon

EU vows more pressure on Yangon

Associated Press, Hanoi

The European Union (EU) is determined to press ahead with
additional sanctions against Myanmar if the military junta
refuses to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the
Dutch foreign minister said on Thursday.

The EU dropped its objections last month to allowing Myanmar
to attend the Asia-Europe summit, which starts on Friday in
Hanoi, deciding instead to protest the regime's dismal human
rights record and anti-democracy moves with possible additional
sanctions.

Foreign Minister Bernard Bot of the Netherlands, which holds
the EU presidency, said European nations would meet on Monday to
formally approve the proposed sanctions, as it grew increasingly
unlikely that Myanmar would release Suu Kyi from house arrest or
meet other EU conditions by the summit's opening on Friday as
demanded.

"It is very important that we maintain the pressure, that we
not give the impression that we accept a situation which for us
is unacceptable," Bot told reporters in Hanoi.

The EU's differences with Myanmar's military junta nearly led
to a European boycott of the summit. Some Asian members of ASEM
consider human rights a matter for individual countries to
decide, while others see the EU actions as interference in
Myanmar's domestic affairs.

Southeast Asian members refused to exclude Myanmar and
threatened to block the inclusion of 10 new members of the EU
from ASEM, forcing Brussels to back away from a boycott. As a
compromise, Myanmar will be represented by a lower-level
delegation.

The other Asian member countries -- Japan, South Korea and
China -- did not disagree with the Southeast Asian countries on
the Myanmar issue.

"The fact that Myanmar is able to join itself, we think is
progress," said Akira Chiba, a spokesman for Japanese Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi. "Japan is, of course, interested in
further democratization of Myanmar and we hope that Myanmar will
cooperate with the world community."

Several European leaders -- such as French President Jacques
Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder -- chose to skip
the ASEM enlargement ceremony on Thursday evening.

But Bot said European participation in the Hanoi summit was
useful because it gave the EU a forum to confront Myanmar and
publicize its complaints.

"Here we are able to voice our opposition to the way in which
the Burmese authorities are acting," he said. "The possibility to
exert pressure directly on the regime is important."

The proposed sanctions include an extension of the visa ban on
Myanmar military authorities and their families, a prohibition on
EU companies providing loans and other financing to Myanmar
state-owned companies, and other measures.

To avoid those sanctions, the EU has demanded Myanmar release
Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest since last year, and
give her party a role in writing a constitution.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai presided over an
elaborate outdoor ceremony to formally add 10 countries that
joined the EU in May and three Southeast Asian countries to the
biennial meeting.

"An enlarged ASEM with 39 members makes up 40 percent and 50
percent of the world's population and GDP, respectively," Khai
said. "With this, ASEM emerges as a political and economic entity
fully capable of playing an important role in world peace,
security and development."

As European and Asian leaders stood on a large stage, a
military honor guard raised the colorful flags of the new members
behind them.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen spoke on behalf of the three
new Asian members -- his country, Laos, and Myanmar -- thanking
ASEM for its "unanimous decision to welcome the three countries
into the great ASEM family."

The European members of ASEM are Austria, Belgium, Britain,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovak
Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The European Commission is
also a member.

The Asian members are Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia,
Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South
Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.