Cambodia will not join Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) unless other two ASEAN member countries, Laos and Myanmar, are also accepted by European countries, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said here Wednesday.

"Cambodia is not yet in the Asia Europe Meeting, we want to join but if we do, we want to join together," Hun Sen said at the opening of a international forum. "Our aim is to further strengthen the cooperation within ASEAN countries," he said.

Last month, Cambodia had asked the ambassadors of European Union to support it to join the ASEM as soon as possible, even to join ASEM alone.

"But now we decided to pull back, if Cambodia or Laos goes first, then ASEAN will face division," the premier said.

Hun Sen said that it is not fair when 10 European countries canjoin ASEM without any examination while the ASEAN's three countries like Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, need to be checked.

"If 10 European countries can join ASEM, three countries from ASEAN also can join," he stressed. "If we are not allowed to join,we ask not to join together."

He said that human rights problem in Myanmar should not be an obstacle of cooperation between ASEAN countries.

ASEM, established in 1994, is an informal dialogue between European Union member states and 10 Asian countries: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as China, Japan and South Korea.

ASEM has a meeting for every two years, and its next meeting will be held in October in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Source: Xinhua