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In June 2026, the junta continued to seek recognition from foreign governments as it simultaneously carried out airstrikes on villages, displacement camps, and other civilian areas across the country. Min Aung Hlaing followed his late-May visit to India with a state visit to China, where China issued a joint statement endorsing Min Aung Hlaing and welcoming the military’s fraudulent elections, and the month closed with BIMSTEC moving to hand the junta a regional leadership role while Laos and Belarus deepened ties with the junta. Human rights organisations and parliamentarians pressed governments to reject the junta and pursue accountability for its crimes, as Fortify Rights urged the United Kingdom to lead an International Criminal Court referral under Article 14 of the Rome Statute and civil society lodged a complaint with Thailand’s national human rights commission over gas revenue reaching the military.
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The Myanmar military junta carried out near-daily airstrikes, artillery bombardments, naval shelling, and village burnings against civilians across Myanmar in May 2026, while simultaneously pursuing international recognition from governments that have an obligation to hold it accountable. India became the first government to receive Min Aung Hlaing as a head of state since the Myanmar military junta’s illegal seizure of power in February 2021, extending full head-of-state honours to a man the ICC Prosecutor has sought to arrest for crimes against humanity. The Quad Foreign Ministers had called for the release of those detained in Myanmar just days before the visit. The 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu produced no enforceable action on Myanmar for the fifth consecutive year. Thailand advocated for junta reintegration into ASEAN, and Malaysia’s foreign minister travelled to Naypyidaw without engaging the National Unity Government or any democratic actors. Foreign ministers agreed to hold a virtual meeting with junta Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe outside the ASEAN Special Envoy’s mandate and without the National Unity Government present. On 5 May, the Rohingya Maiyafuinor Collaborative Network, the Chin Human Rights Organization, and the Myanmar Accountability Project jointly condemned the junta’s campaign to obstruct war crimes proceedings in Timor-Leste and Indonesia. The junta had expelled Timor-Leste’s chargé d’affaires in January 2026 after Dili opened a criminal file against Min Aung Hlaing. The Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union carried out its first overseas diplomatic mission, with NUG Foreign Minister Zin Mar Aung leading a delegation to Canada from 30 May alongside representatives of the Karen National Union and the Karenni State Interim Executive Council.
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In April, accused war criminal Min Aung Hlaing was sworn in as president following fraudulent elections that the United Nations, ASEAN, and the European Union rejected as failing to meet any democratic standard. Within days, he imposed martial law across 60 townships in six states and three regions, authorising military tribunals to try and execute civilians. A new Anti-Money Laundering Law granted the Ministry of Home Affairs warrantless powers of interception, arrest, and asset seizure. His 100-day peace plan, which required resistance forces to surrender as a precondition for talks, was immediately rejected by the Karen National Union, Chin National Front, and National Unity Government. Internationally, the European Union extended its sanctions through April 2027, while Thailand declared its intention to reintegrate the junta into ASEAN despite five years of non-compliance with the Five-Point Consensus. A genocide complaint was filed against Min Aung Hlaing in Indonesia under universal jurisdiction, joining proceedings at the ICJ, ICC, and in Argentina and Timor-Leste. On 30 March, the Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union was announced, bringing together the NUG, CRPH, KNU, KIO, KNPP, and CNF under a joint political and military framework.
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In March 2026, Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing became president, the culmination of an election process that the United Nations, ASEAN, and Western governments had rejected as a sham. The military and its proxy party hold 505 of 586 parliamentary seats. The cabinet is dominated by recently retired military officers. The Union Consultative Council, a five-member body Min Aung Hlaing created earlier this year and chairs, has authority over the government, the military, and the legislature, effectively placing him above every institution in the state.