Myanmar hails EU decision to lift sanctions
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Bandar Seri Begawan - Myanmar on Tuesday hailed the decision of the European Union to formally lift non-military sanctions against the South-East Asian country.
"The decision of the EU is a welcome development," said Aung Lynn, Myanmar's director-general for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) affairs.
"We have been expecting this since we started the reform process and believe that EU will make (more) similar actions recognising the developments in our country," he said on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Brunei.
Aung said the EU decision Monday to lift the sanctions would boost his country's reform programmes.
"There are many things that we have to work hard together with EU. This is a very good beginning," he said. "We will continue our reforms and democratic process. I understand that EU will do the same in recognising our reforms." Aung rejected allegations by Human Rights Watch that recent sectarian violence was a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
"This is a separate issue, a domestic issue. We are dealing with it very seriously internally," he said.//DPA
