Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
During the closing press conference of the EU foreign ministers’ meetings in Brussels last night, Foreign Policy Coordinator Kaya Kallas said: “I briefed the ministers on the results of my visit to Jordan, where I met with a number of Arab officials, as well as from Turkey and the United States, to discuss the basic principles that we all agree on – to deal with the new leadership in Syria. How we will deal with this.
I announced earlier on Monday that a high-level European diplomat will go to Damascus. He is there now. Not the special envoy, but the head of our delegation who is currently based in Beirut, who went to Damascus and held some meetings or held some high-level meetings there.
The aim is to communicate with the new authorities in the country, and to convey messages to the group about how they intend to govern as well, so that we understand all of this.
There are basic principles that everyone has agreed on with the Arab countries, the neighboring countries, Turkey and the United States, and the European Union as well. These are the principles of territorial integrity; sovereignty; accountability. And also, inclusiveness of government – ​​taking into account in particular minorities and women’s rights in this case.
This process must be Syrian-led, Syrian-owned and reflect the diversity of the Syrian people. This is very important.
Extremism, Russia and Iran must have no place in Syria’s future.
In parallel, the European Union of course remains the largest donor of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people. Since the fall of Assad, we have opened an air bridge to deliver 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid to support health, education and shelter.
In the future, I can announce that we will be organising the 9th Brussels Conference on Syria, which is supposed to be a pledging conference here in Brussels.
We stand by the Syrian people throughout this transition, as we did under Assad’s brutal rule.
We also discussed broader developments in the Middle East.
On Gaza, the ministers emphasised the need for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the delivery of adequate and unhindered humanitarian assistance.
We also need dialogue to push for this, for a two-state solution. So I proposed holding an Association Council with Israel. This was also supported by the ministers. And then, too, the first high-level dialogue with the Palestinian Authority took place shortly afterwards.