RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE REQUEST URGING STRONG

UNCLAS BUDAPEST 000590 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/MLS LSHEIBE, PLEASE PASS TO EUR/CE JLAMORE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL BM EU HU SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO DEMARCHE REQUEST URGING STRONG REACTION TO AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S CONVICTION REF: STATE 83598 ¶1. (SBU) Emboff delivered the talking points contained in reftel to Gyula Petho, Director of the Asia bureau at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Laszlo Takacs, Director of the Far East/Burma department. Petho and Takacs expressed agreement with the U.S. position on the Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK) conviction and with the statement Sweden made on behalf of the EU in its capacity as EU president. Takacs noted that the extension of ASSK's detention is illegal even under Burma's own laws, thereby further undermining the legitimacy of the 2010 election process. ¶2. (SBU) Given Hungary's minimal diplomatic and economic ties to Burma, however, the MFA said it would not be issuing a separate statement. Hungary's Ambassador to Thailand is also accredited to Burma and, until Burma's violent crackdown on dissidents in 2007, visited Rangoon twice a year under the auspices of an EU Chiefs of Mission delegation. According to Petho, Hungary's bilateral trade with Burma amounts to about $50,000 per year. ¶3. (SBU) Hungary will support EU efforts to tighten sanctions on Burma--expanding the list of Burmese officials covered by a visa ban and stepping up targeted financial sanctions--but Petho and Takacs doubt the efficacy of such measures due to the EU's limited diplomatic and economic relationship with Burma. Both men believe that actions by ASEAN and the UN would be much more effective. LEVINE