European and Asian ministers criticize North Korea, Myanmar release of Suu Kyi, no separate statement issued (Roundup)

May 26, 2009, 10:55 GMT

   Hanoi - European and Asian foreign ministers meeting in Hanoi Tuesday adopted statements condemning North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon and expressing concern over the detention of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

   Representing the European Union, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout congratulated the closing session of the gathering of foreign ministers of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) for moving 'swiftly and resolutely' to deal with the North Korean and Myanmar situations.

   'We all agreed that the test is a clear violation of the six-party negotiations and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,' Kohout said.

   A joint ASEM statement issued earlier in the day urged North Korea not to conduct further tests and to return to the six-party talks over denuclearization.

   While the condemnation of the North Korean nuclear test was issued as a separate statement, an expression of concern over Myanmar was included as point 19 in the 31-point official ASEM closing statement.

   The closing statement did not specifically call for Myanmar to release democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, instead urging 'the early release of those under detention and the lifting of restrictions placed upon political parties.'

   In a nod to Asian sensitivity over intervention in countries' sovereign affairs, the statement reaffirmed the 'sovereignty and territorial integrity of Myanmar' and stated that the 'future of Myanmar lies in the hands of all its people.'

   Suu Kyi, 63, has been under detention, mostly at her family home in Yangon, for the past six years. The Nobel peace laureate is the leader of the NLD opposition party which won the 1990 general election by a landslide, but has been blocked from power by Myanmar's junta for the past 19 years. She has spent 13 of those years under house arrest.

   Suu Kyi is currently on trial in Myanmar for violating the terms of her detention. She faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

   German Minister of State for Europe Guenter Gloser said the ASEM meeting brought European and Asian governments closer than usual in reprimanding Myanmar over human rights and governance concerns.

   'I think that at this conference we found a language that was different from those of previous conferences,' Gloser told the German Press Agency dpa.

   But the joint statement was notably less aggressive than the statements of European ministers at the conference had been.

   Kohout noted bilateral talks between the EU and Myanmar on Monday in which the EU expressed concern over Suu Kyi's detention and over the prospects for planned national elections in 2010.

   '(Aung) San Suu Kyi is an indispensable partner in a dialogue leading to a mutual reconciliation in Burma/Myanmar,' Kohout said. 'She should be released immediately and the Burmese government should engage in an inclusive dialogue with all local political and ethnic groups.'

   In contrast to Kohout, the two Asian ministers whose speeches closed out the conference, Indian Secretary Neelakantan Ravi and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem, scarcely mentioned the North Korean and Myanmar resolutions.

   The ASEM meeting also adopted a series of resolutions on cooperation to address the global financial and economic crisis.