The news and images from Myanmar are deeply shocking. Protecting the people is the principle task of security forces. Instead of doing so, the military in Myanmar has turned to killing peaceful protestors and even children. My thoughts are with the families of the victims.

As members of the European Union, we have made very clear that we will not tolerate the military’s brutal course of action against the people of Myanmar and we have imposed sanctions against the military. And jointly with our international partners, we will stay firmly committed on making this violence, which is only getting worse every single day, end so that Myanmar can return to the path of democracy.