EU-Asia meeting might be hijacked by Myanmar issue
The two-days Europe-Asia meeting will be held in Vietnam from next Monday with a topic of discussing the global financial crisis, but Myanmar issues on trial Suu Kyi may steal the headlines.
The Europe-Asia Foreign Ministers' meeting will discuss measures to overcome the crisis and ways to promote economic cooperation, said Doan Xuan Hung, Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam, which will preside the meeting.
But the on-coming meeting takes place under the background of against the trial of Myanmar's opposition democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for breaking the rules of her house arrest.
If you look through the whole process of Europe-Asia meeting, I think both sides want better interaction but they are always hijacked by one issue, which is Myanmar, one Asian diplomat said before the meeting.
The diplomat said the Myanmar issue might spark a lot of discussions on the sidelines in the Europe-Asia meeting.
Several Western countries have criticized Myanmar for putting Suu Kyi on trial and ASEAN also this week expressed grave concern.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said earlier this week that the issue of Myanmar could be addressed at the Hanoi meeting.
Our relationship with Burma is nearly non-existent and that makes it complicated from this point of view, but we'll have to engage with the other countries in the region. Those are the ones who have a real possibility of influence, Mr. Carl said.
Senior officials are prepared to start talks on Saturday to pave the way for the two-day minister's meeting.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.