Indonesia refuses to discuss E. Timor at ASEAN-EU meet
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia yesterday warned the European Union it would not discuss what it considers "extraneous issues" such as East Timor in next week's meeting between ministers of the EU and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"We are ready to confer on the issue anywhere as long as it's the correct forum," the foreign ministry's Director General for Political Affairs Izhar Ibrahim said.
"The correct forum is the tripartite talks under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary General," Izhar added.
EU and ASEAN foreign ministers are scheduled to hold their 12th dialog meeting in Singapore on Feb. 13 and Feb. 14. The two- day meeting will also mark the 20th anniversary of the EU-ASEAN dialog relationship.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
During an informal meeting of ASEAN heads of state here in November, leaders issued a joint statement warning relations could be jeopardized if the EU pursued extraneous issues in the cooperation framework.
Indonesia maintains issues like East Timor should be discussed bilaterally or within the framework of the UN.
The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as part of Indonesia in 1976. However, the UN and a majority of European countries still recognize Lisbon as the administrative power there.
Indonesian officials have directly blamed Portugal for bringing such issues into the EU-ASEAN framework.
Izhar warned forcing the issue could be detrimental to the Singapore meeting.
"ASEAN leaders have agreed not to discuss East Timor (in dialog framework), so the ASEAN ministers have to abide by that decision," he told Antara yesterday.
"If Portugal forces it, then the meeting could very well break-up because all the ASEAN countries will refuse to discuss it," he warned.
He maintained that the East Timor was irrelevant in the context of EU-ASEAN dialog relations.
During the 11th EU-ASEAN dialog meeting in Germany in 1994, issues of human rights and East Timor were also skirted.
Izhar yesterday denied reports Indonesia would walk out of the meeting if the issue was introduced.
"That's not true," he said. "Indonesia has made no such threat, but we do oppose it, that's true."
Unnamed Singapore officials were yesterday quoted as saying Indonesia had made such a threat.
"The Indonesians have told us as co-chairmen that if the East Timor issue is raised by the Portuguese, they would walk out," said the official as reported by Reuters in Singapore.
Apart from the sensitive issue of East Timor, the question of Myanmar's impending entry into ASEAN is another thorny topic.
The EU has strongly criticized ASEAN for maintaining a policy of constructive engagement with Yangon whom it accuses of suppressing pro-democracy movements in the country.
European countries along with the United States are advocating an isolationist policy towards Yangon.
ASEAN officials are expected to push issues of development cooperation, investment and trade in the dialog.
The EU is ASEAN's third largest trading partner with about US$99.5 billion in 1995.
Closer people-to-people contact and mapping out the parameters for the dialog relationship in the future is also expected to feature in the agenda.
The EU-ASEAN meeting will be followed up by a one-day meeting of the Asia-Europe ministers Meeting (ASEM) which brings together foreign minister from Japan, Korea and China with their ASEAN and EU counterparts. (mds)