21/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU welcomes recent amnesties. On Friday 21 September High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton welcomed the decision of the Burmese president, Thein Sein, to grant an amnesty to 514 political prisoners. “I am confident that this gesture will first and foremost help to overcome the legacy left by the past authoritarian regimes”, she said. She believes that this amnesty “confirms the commitment of the president to advance on his ambitious political and economic reform programme.” Recalling the Commission's announcement of a plan aiming to re-establish full preferential access to the EU market for Burmese products (see EUROPE 10690), she said she was looking forward to further strengthening EU-Myanmar political and economic relations. (CG/transl.fl)