Brussels, 22/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - Instead of making its common position on Burma more flexible, the Union toughened its tone in the Council conclusions on Monday. It states it is "disappointed" that the first promising measures - the release in May this year of Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as that of other political prisoners and the relaxation of a number of political restraints - had not been followed by the beginning of a far wider political process. Also, information concerning further detentions do not cease to worry Europeans in the same way as the persisting human rights violations and the enormous suffering inflicted upon ethnic minorities. "The political process cannot again be differed", if only because "the lack of progress casts doubt as to the viability of the current process" and only increases the suffering of the population, the Council points out. It then calls on the government "to engage, without delay, in a substantive dialogue with the opposition, that leads a political transition, national reconciliation" and in the long-term leads to the "reestablishment of a genuinely democratic and legitimate government that the international community can back unreservedly".