TOKYO - THE European Union's special envoy on Myanmar said on Monday a visit by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the military-ruled nation would have a positive impact and trigger dialogue with the opposition.

Mr Ban, who in May made the first visit by a UN chief to Myanmar in almost 45 years, said on Friday that the atmosphere was not right for a return trip.

EU envoy Piero Fassino, a former Italian foreign minister, agreed that a visit by Ban must be 'carefully prepared.' 'We believe that a personal initiative by Ban Ki-moon could prove positive in establishing a serious dialogue between the junta, democratic opposition and ethnic minorities, which has not yet taken place,' Mr Fassino told reporters on a visit to Tokyo.

Last week more than 100 former leaders wrote to the UN chief urging him to travel to Myanmar to secure the release of political prisoners including democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent years under house arrest.

Leaders who signed the letter included ex-US presidents George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, ex-Australian premier John Howard, former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi and ex-Philippine leaders Fidel Ramos and Corazon Aquino.

Mr Fassino, who has not gone to Myanmar in the year since his appointment, was in Japan as part of a tour of Asian nations.

He called for the world to act now to ensure the fairness of elections that Myanmar's military regime says it will hold in 2010.

'We cannot afford to stay still. We have to act now to obtain democratic guarantees,' Mr Fassino said.

'We want Myanmar's society and citizens to decide their own future. We want the 2010 general elections to be held in a fair and free environment,' Mr Fassino said.

Mr Ban said on Friday that he was frustrated at the failure of Myanmar's military to restore democracy.

'At this time I do not think that the atmosphere is ripe for me to undertake my own visit there,' he said.

But he added: 'I am committed, and I am ready to visit any time, whenever I can have reasonable expectations of my visit, to be productive and meaningful.' -- AFP