Brussels, 23/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday evening, the European Troika headed by the President-in-Office of the Council, Belgium Deputy Prime Minister Louis Michel, and Commissioner Chris Patten (from Wednesday), began a series of ministerial meetings in Hanoi. These included in the context of the regional ASEAN Forum the traditional post-ministerial conference alongside the other major interlocutors of the association of South East Asian countries and bilateral sessions with North Korea - for the first time ever - as well as Vietnam, Thailand, Australia and, that evening, with the representatives of East Timor.
The presence of the Troika in the region provides an opportunity to make contact with the representatives of East Timor before the elections in August will open the way to independence, it is said in Brussels, on the eve of the meeting headed by Mr Michel, attended by UN representatives.
On Wednesday, the annual session of the ASEM Regional Forum will open. During two days it will bring together ten countries that belong to the association (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Burma, Laos and Cambodia) and their main discussion partners (the Union represented by the Troika, the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, China, North Korea and South Korea, India, Russia, New Zealand and Mongolia), in the presence of the group's observer, Papua New Guinea. The Forum, during which dialogue will be initiated on security in the region, could evolve into a more institutional system, "something like the OSCE", it is hoped in Brussels. The very copious agenda of the meeting mainly includes a first assessment of the situation in Indonesia and an exchange of views on North Korea, Burma and possibly on the evolution of Chinese-American relations. The Troika is expected to invite its partners to go beyond confidence-building measures to strengthen security in the region, with emphasis on the guidelines put forward in the recent Commission communication concerning conflict prevention and the role of the EU in promoting human rights and democracy. In the evening, Chris Patten will hold: - a meeting with Thailand's Foreign Minister (bilateral relations, Burma, WTO, food security, etc.); - a meeting with his counterpart from Vietnam (bilateral relations, accession by this country to the WTO), Community aid, market access, human rights, the next joint committee and the strategy documents that the Commission will be devoting to it).
The post-ministerial Conference will be held on Thursday. It will bring together the Foreign Minister from Asia and their ten non-Asian interlocutors. They will discuss economic and financial issues, mainly the importance that Europeans give to the opening of markets and the continuation of reforms in the region. During the afternoon, the potential of EU-ASEAN cooperation will be discussed (WTO, transnational security, next Community strategy paper on Asia, announced for 5 September, and preparation of the Joint Committee session after the summer break. The second chapter - political - will be tackled during lunch, especially the latest developments within the EU and Asia. The Troika will then meet the representatives of North Korea (only senior officials), for the first time since the constructive European mission conducted by Göran Persson in May in the peninsula, in order to ensure follow-up. It will then undertake to conclude with the Australian Foreign Minister.