LUXEMBOURG (AP) — The European Union on Monday dropped its political and economic sanctions against Myanmar to support the country’s “remarkable process” of democratic reforms, while warning that the southeast Asian nation must curb recent outbursts of ethnic violence.

“The people (of Myanmar) want democracy, peace and prosperity,” the EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said following a meeting of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers in Luxembourg. “The journey has begun; we want to be part of it,” she said, pledging closer cooperation with the authorities in Myanmar.