Myanmar dealt blow over accord

Myanmar dealt blow over accord

BRUSSELS (AFP): The European Commission has proposed protocols extending a cooperation accord between the European Union and ASEAN to Laos and Cambodia, but not to Myanmar.

"It is expected that the (European) Council will approve the protocols, so that they can be signed on 28 July ... during the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference in Bangkok," the commission said in a statement.

"These protocols will allow the two countries to benefit from the European Community economic cooperation projects and programs provided under the regional cooperation agreement with ASEAN, and to strengthen their dialog" with the European Community," it said.

It added: "There is no intention at present to extend the EC- ASEAN Cooperation Agreement to Burma," or Myanmar, as it calls itself. Myanmar has been a pariah to most Western nations, including the EU and U.S., since its military regime bloodily suppressed prodemocracy protests in 1988.