BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The top EU diplomat said on Sunday that Russia and China were obstructing a united international response to Myanmar’s military coup and that the EU could offer more economic incentives if democracy returned to the country.
“It is no surprise that Russia and China are blocking attempts by the UN Security Council, for example, to impose an arms embargo,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. blog post.
“Geopolitical competition in Myanmar will make it very difficult to find common ground,” said Borrell, who speaks on behalf of the 27 EU member states. “But we have a duty to prove it.”
Security forces have killed more than 700 unarmed protesters, including 46 children, since the military took power in the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 1 coup, according to a count of the activist of the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP). group.
This included 82 people killed in the town of Bago, near Yangon, on Friday, which the AAPP described as a “killing camp”.
“The world looks horrified, while the army uses violence against its own people,” Borrell said.
China and Russia have ties to Myanmar’s armed forces, as the country’s first and second largest arms supplier, respectively.
Last week, the UN Security Council called for the release of Suu Kyi and others detained by the military, but stopped condemning the coup.
The EU is preparing new sanctions on people and companies owned by the Myanmar army. The bloc agreed in March to a first round of sanctions against 11 people linked to the coup, including the army commander-in-chief.
Although the EU’s economic leverage in the country is relatively small, Borrell said the EU could offer to increase its economic ties with Myanmar if democracy is restored. This could include more trade and investment in sustainable development, he said.
EU foreign direct investment in Myanmar amounted to $ 700 million in 2019, compared to China’s $ 19 billion.
The army says it staged a coup because the November election won by Suu Kyi’s party was broken. The election commission has dismissed the claim.
In Myanmar, protest groups are calling for a boycott of the Thingyan Water Festival this week, one of the most important celebrations of the year, due to the killings.
“(With) Thingyan is approaching, we mourn the loss of meaningless lives in Bago and around the country where regime forces have allegedly used weapons of war against civilians,” the U.S. embassy in Yangon said on Twitter.
“The regime has the capacity to resolve the crisis and must start to end violence and attacks.”
Reports by Kate Abnett; additional reports by Raju Gopalakrishnan; Edited by John Chalmers, Barbara Lewis, William Maclean