VZCZCXRO2529
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHUP #0590 2261220
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141220Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4403
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON PRIORITY 0002
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY

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