Full Focus

A miner on strike stands in front of a burning barricade on the A-66 motorway, on the first day of a strike to protest the government's spending cuts in the mining sector, in Pola de Lena, near Oviedo, northern Spain, May 23, 2012. Spain's economy is contracting for the second time since late 2009 and four years of stagnation and recession have pushed unemployment above 24 percent, the highest rate in the European Union. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso

Editor's Choice

Our best photos from the last 24 hours.  See more 

Pictures

Members of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels fly over the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan as part of the 25th annual Fleet Week celebration in New York, May 23, 2012. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Reuters Photojournalism

Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography.  See more | Photo caption 

Photo

Maxim Hot 100

The world's most beautiful women as chosen by Maxim readers.  Slideshow 

Shreen Mohammad sits with other recruits during a military exercise at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) in Kabul March 28, 2012. A landmark NATO summit in Chicago endorsed an exit strategy that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the middle of next year but left questions unanswered about how to prevent a slide into chaos and a Taliban resurgence after allied troops are gone. Picture taken March 28, 2012. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani (AFGHANISTAN - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 18 OF 27 FOR PACKAGE 'AFGHAN ARMY RECRUIT'

Afghan army recruit

A look at an Afghan recruit as he goes through the process of joining the Afghan National Army.  Slideshow 

Hague hopes for easing of EU sanctions on Myanmar on Monday

Related Topics

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague addresses a conference after a meeting with Rio de Janeiro State's Governor Sergio Cabral and Rio de Janeiro City's Mayor Eduardo Paes in Rio de Janeiro January 19, 2012. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague addresses a conference after a meeting with Rio de Janeiro State's Governor Sergio Cabral and Rio de Janeiro City's Mayor Eduardo Paes in Rio de Janeiro January 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

BRUSSELS | Mon Jan 23, 2012 3:50am EST

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he hoped EU foreign ministers would be able to agree at a meeting on Monday to an easing of sanctions on Myanmar in response to reforms by the government, including the release of political prisoners.

"I hope that we will be able to indicate the first easing of restrictive sanctions on Burma (Myanmar) where the government there has taken important measures towards the freeing of political prisoners and the holding of free elections," Hague told reporters in Brussels, where EU foreign ministers were meeting to discuss issues including Iran and Syria.

"We should recognize that in what we say and do at this meeting today," he said.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom; editing by Luke Baker)
World
Myanmar
Comments (0)
This discussion is now closed. We welcome comments on our articles for a limited period after their publication.