The EU opens to Myanmar.

(April 24, 2013) The Myanmar government has ordered the release of at least 56 political prisoners, following the decision of the European Union - EU, to remove all economic, commercial and individual sanctions on Myanmar. But the ban on arms sales remains. The EU’s most senior foreign affairs official, Catherine Ashton, said the decision to resume all trade except arms would help the democratic transition in Myanmar. “The people want democracy, peace and prosperity. They deserve it. Their journey has begun and we want to be part of it,” she said in a statement. Human rights activists and international organizations have welcomed the recent release of prisoners. At the same time the government of the reformist president Thein Sein, who came to power in March 2011 after decades of military dictatorship, announced the intention of furthering the school teaching of the languages ​​of ethnic minorities. Among minorities hardest hit are the Rohingya, a Muslim minority concentrated in the western state of Rakhine.
“Whether the lifting of EU sanctions came about at the right time or not, what’s important is to take advantage of this development for our country,” said Nyan Win, a lawyer and spokesman for the main opposition National League for Democracy. But the announcement was not universally welcomed. Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the unanimous decision by the EU’s 27 foreign ministers “premature.”Asianews: