Burma poll may be last EU sanctions hurdle

Radio Australia News, March 1st, 2012 ...

PHOTO: Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy will contest 48 by-elections in April. [Reuters]

Ministers from the European Union say free and fair elections in Burma in April could be the last hurdle to the lifting of European sanctions.
A delegation of EU lawmakers is visiting Burma. They have met the Burmese President Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

EU foreign ministers began the process of lifting restrictions in January.

EU parliamentarian Robert Goebbels from Luxembourg says he expects sanctions will be further lifted in the coming months.

"There are no more real hurdles. The ministers of foreign affairs are scheduled to meet in April, and I would bet that they will lift the sanctions or lift them gradually," he said.

"And especially if Aung San Suu Kyi will be elected, that will be a boost to the relations."

Cautious optimism

Ms Suu Kyi says it is too early to decide if recent democratic reforms are here to stay.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and her National League for Democracy will contest 48 by-elections in April.

Last March, the former military junta made way for a nominally civilian government that embarked on a major reform drive.

The government freed hundreds of political prisoners and relaxed media restrictions.

But speaking via video link to a university in Canada, Ms Suu Kyi said some are too optimistic about the situation in Burma.

She says the army still has ultimate control and the reforms so far could be reversed.

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