Conference on Political Situation in Burma with European Stakeholders to be Held Next Week in Prague

By People in Need • February 11, 2011

“Elections in Burma/Myanmar and the European Policy” is the title of the conference organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic in cooperation with People in Need, starting at the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Czernin Palace, on Tuesday, February 15 at 9:30. The conference will be inaugurated with opening remarks by Karel Schwarzenberg, the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs and Václav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic, and will be attended by representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs of the European Union countries, representatives of European institutions, members of the European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma (EPCB), as well as by representatives of several European civil society organizations active on Burma who will have gathered in Prague for the Euro Burma Network (EBN) meeting.

The conference is held during a very important period of the modern history of Burma. The ruling military junta, after having experienced a landslide victory of the opposition National League for Democracy in the first elections ever in 1990, decided not to repeat the same mistake again and controlled the 2010 election process from its beginning up to the Election Day. The elections were widely criticized by the international community, and within the European Union countries there were various positions. The conference is a space for discussion on the post-election situation in Burma and what position the European Union and its Member States should take towards the new government.

The conference will be preceded by a one-day meeting of the European Parliamentary Caucus for Burma (EPCB). The EPCB, founded in June 2008 to raise European awareness of Burma and promote human rights and democracy, will produce a set of recommendations for the conference. Czech senator Petr Bratský, an active member of the EPCB, expressed his view on the importance of the upcoming conference in these words: “We Czech people have had firsthand experience with elections taking place in an unfree society and we know that such elections are nothing but a manipulation by the regime that contributes to further humiliating the citizens who are forced to participate in that manipulation. It is our responsibility to share this experience with our partners in the European Union and to send a clear message to the military regime in Burma that we will not get deceived by this farce.”

Download the program agenda here. Burma Partnership Coordinator Khin Ohmar will be speaking at the conference and can be reached for information at +66(0)8108840772. The opening panel is open to journalists.

For more information and access please contact:

Kristina Prunerova
Burma Projects Coordinator
People in Need
+420 777 787 917
[email protected]

Tags: 2010 Elections, Czech Republic, Euro Burma Network, European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma, Karel Schwarzenberg, Vaclav Havel

This post is in: Press Release

Conference on Political Situation in Burma with European Stakeholders to be Held Next Week in Prague

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