Strasbourg, 16/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 13 January, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs stressed that the liberation of 300 political prisoners in Burma, some of whom are “well-known”, together with the “important” ceasefire agreements reached recently in the SHAN states, takes us “a further step towards a new relationship with Burma-Myanmar”. On 5 January, the EU announced its intention to open a representation - not a delegation - to the country.
Welcoming the release of the prisoners, Catherine Ashton explained that their liberation is “a courageous step and further confirmation that the reform course chosen by the government continues”.
On Sunday 15 January, the French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, on a visit to Rangoon, stated that the EU would respond in “concrete terms” to the government's reforms, which he described as “significant gestures”. The minister did not specify whether this concerns the sanctions in place against the country, which the EU relaxed slightly in April 2011. “We will see how (…) the sanctions mechanism can develop as we observe progress in the democratisation of the regime”, he had explained a little earlier. (CG/transl.fl)