Phnom Penh (FN), Jan. 4 – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen stated that it would be EU’s third mistake against Cambodia if the EU withdrew the Everything But Arms (EBA) preferences from Cambodia as lobbied by the opposition groups.

The statement was made addressing at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Third Ring Road project on Monday.

“The EU’s first mistake was supporting coup in Cambodia during 1970s; the democratic states shall have condemned Lon Nol, but instead they supported the coup against the legitimate Head of State, King Father Norodom Sihanouk,” the Premier stated.

“The second was supporting Khmer Rouge to occupy the UN seat for 12 years; and the third, even the EU just decided to set in motion the formal procedure, once realized, it will become the third mistake of EU’s democratic countries against Cambodia,” he added.

Cambodia watcher based in Phnom Penh Thomas Fowler wrote that the EU will commit a serious mistake if it decides to remove EBA from Cambodia. The EU should instead continue to help Cambodia to develop its economy and gradually build democratic governance. Cambodia can be the bridge and beacon of democracy in the Mekong region as no country in the GMS is currently implementing a democratic system better than Cambodia.

EU has assisted Cambodia on all sectors. If the EU decided to withdraw EBA, EU will abandon everything they have done for Cambodia over the past years.
=FRESH NEWS