An invitation to Myanmar to attend a European Union-Asia summit in Helsinki next week does not signal a softening of the EU’s tough stance on the Southeast Asian nation, the EU presidency said Wednesday.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, “is one of the 39 partners of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) process, which it joined two years ago,” said Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja of Finland, which holds the rotating EU presidency.

“However, this should by no means be seen as any kind of softening of the EU position,” he said, noting that the EU remained disappointed with Myanmar’s lack of democratic reforms and poor human rights record.

“In this regard, there has been no progress in the country,” Tuomioja said, speaking before the non-governmental Asia-Europe People’s Forum, a parallel meeting held in Helsinki before the two-day ASEM summit open on September 10.

The forum of human rights organizations and aid agencies — including Amnesty International — has denounced Myanmar’s participation in the EU-Asia summit, scheduled for September 10-11, pointing out that the country is the object of international sanctions.

The military-led government of Myanmar has been widely criticized for sustained human rights violations and the continuing detention of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for most of the past 17 years.

Her National League for Democracy party won 1990 elections but was never allowed to rule. Its offices have been shut down by the junta, which has also locked up many other party members.

Tuomiojo nonetheless argued that including Myanmar in the summit was the best way to steer the country toward reform.

“Engaging the whole region will help to strengthen the international pressure on Myanmar,” he said. “ASEM should not be held hostage by this problem.”

The Finnish foreign minister said that Myanmar’s “serious human rights violations” and lack of progress toward democracy would be discussed during the two-day forum.

ASEM includes 38 European and Asian countries: the 25 member-states of the EU, ASEAN, as well as Japan, China and South Korea. The European Commission is also considered as a partner.