PHNOM PENH, 11 Nov 2022:
The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries today agreed to admit Timor-Leste “in principle” as the 11th member of the bloc.
In a statement issued from the Cambodian capital during the bloc’s annual summit, which will run until Sunday, Asean partners said they also had agreed to “grant an observer status to Timor-Leste and allow its participation in all Asean meetings, including at the Summit plenaries.”
The bloc promised to work with Timorese authorities to allow it to become a full member, including formalising a “roadmap” to be submitted at next year’s summit.
Asean membership has been a longstanding ambition of Timor-Leste, a small island nation southeast of Indonesia.
Colonised by Portugal in the 16th century, it declared independence on 28 Nov 1975. But the following month, it was invaded by Indonesian forces – which remained there until 1999.
That year, a referendum was held in which the majority of Timorese voted in favour of independence, which was officially declared in 2002.
Asean, founded in 1967, is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
– EFE