According to its press statement, the EU called on the Cambodian government to stop the dissolution of the opposition party CNRP, to release its president Mr. Kem Sokha, and to restore the space for free media and civil society.
"In order to have free and fair general election in July next year, the country needs an open and transparent level playing field. We call on the government to release opposition leader Kem Sokha, to stop the dissolution process of the main opposition party, and to restore the space for free action of political parties, media and civil society organizations," said Dr. Langen of the ASEAN Delegation of the European Parliament.
Dr. Langen also said that if political situation in Cambodia would not be changed, the EU could also decide to suspend all its economic cooperation with Cambodia.
"The government of Cambodia should be aware that the European Parliament is a co-legislator for budgetary and trade issues. A serious deterioration of human rights situation might have implication for development assistance program and trade preferences," added Dr. Langen.
The press statement also said that from October 30 to October 31, the ASEAN Delegation of the European Parliament led by Dr. Werner Langen, visited Cambodia in order to be informed about the current EU-Cambodia cooperation and political situation in the country.
According to the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the delegation met with Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon on Monday at the ministry's building, to talk about the above issues.
After the meeting, Mr. Chum Sunry, spokesman for the ministry, told reporters that the EU still wanted to buy Cambodian rice and products from Cambodian garment sector with low tax tariffs or no tax at all. The EU also promised to help Cambodia enhance its education system, natural resource management, and a number of other sectors. Nevertheless, the EU has already provided grants of about €400 million to Cambodia to be used to develop the country from 2014 to 2020.
However, the spokesman said that during the discussion, Minister Prak Sokhon informed the delegation about the arrest of the opposition leader Kem Sokha, the closure of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and a number of local radios due to the fact that those groups had violated the law, and what the government did was only to enforce the law.
In response, Mr. Sunry said that the EU was impressed by the current progress in Cambodia, and they said thank to the Cambodian government for inviting them to observe the upcoming general election in July 2018.
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