JAKARTA, INDONESIA (AP) – The European Union’s (EU) top diplomat expressed opposition to Myanmar’s upcoming role as the overseer of relations between the 27-nation bloc and Southeast Asian nations and reasserted its non-recognition of the strife-torn country’s military government.
The comments marked the latest diplomatic fallout from the Myanmar army’s forcible seizure of power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government on February 1, 2021 that plunged the country into deadly chaos.
The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs Josep Borrell raised the concern in a meeting with foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. The 10-nation ASEAN includes Myanmar and Indonesia, which leads the regional group this year.
“We face a challenge related to the potential of Myanmar assuming the role of ASEAN coordinator for relations with the EU,” Borrell told his ASEAN counterparts at the start of their meeting.
”We don’t recognise the military junta and perhaps you will find a solution to overcome this issue,” he said.
There was no immediate reaction from the foreign ministers but a Southeast Asian diplomat attending the meetings told The Associated Press that the concern raised by the EU was being discussed within ASEAN to prevent any disruptions in the robust trade and geopolitical relations between the two regional blocs.The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss the issue publicly.
The EU, the United States and other Western governments have imposed sanctions on Myanmar’s military government and demanded an immediate end to violence and the release of Suu Kyi and other political detainees.
ASEAN assigns a member state to oversee trade, political and security relations with each world power it has ties with, including the EU, for three years. The Philippines currently coordinates ASEAN-EU relations and is scheduled to be succeeded by Myanmar next year.
Among the options being considered by the ASEAN ministers was to assign Laos, which will hold the regional group’s rotational chairmanship next year, to coordinate ties with the EU, the diplomat said.
ASEAN also does not recognise Myanmar’s military government and has barred military-appointed representatives from attending the group’s top-level meetings, including those being hosted this week by Indonesia.
More than 3,750 civilians, including pro-democracy activists, have been killed by security forces and nearly 24,000 arrested since the military takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group that keeps tallies of arrests and casualties.
