2012-03-09



The meetings with members of the House of Representatives of the Burmese parliament, president U Thein Sein and Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi served to assure Burma that the European Union and the EP support its democratic transition, the strengthening of its young democracy, as well as the independence of the judicial system and the enforcement of human and minority rights.
DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor was a member of the delegation, which met Aun San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who was imprisoned and has recently been freed from house arrest. The Burmese politician was awarded the Sakharov Prize in 1990, a distinction awarded by the EP since 1988 for freedom of thought. Aun San Suu Kyi did not have the opportunity to receive the prize in person. Thanks to the invitation made by the delegation, she will finally be able to accept the award this year in Brussels, most likely in April, after the local elections in Burma.
Following a question asked by MEP Csaba Sógor about the prospects of historical justice in Burma, Aun San Suu Kyi, whose picture has been portrayed on the façade of the EP building as a signal of the solidarity of EU citizens, said that minorities need to be granted every right, including that of self government. Additional rights do not represent a source of danger; on the contrary, they pose additional responsibilities for the minority and the majority alike. She believes that diversity can only be ensured through federalism, which does not imply that any separation would take place in Burma or in the EU. Aun San Suu Kyi quoted arch-bishop Desmond Tutu in saying that she believed in constructive, and not retributive justice and that there is a need for proactive thinking.
The Hungarian MEP from Transylvania also called for the organization of an extraordinary meeting of the Minority Intergroup of the European Parliament on the occasion of Aun San Suu Kyi’s visit this spring.