Brussels, 06/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - Responding to the expulsion of its own diplomats, Syria declared 17 Western diplomats, including Belgians, French, Germans, Italians and Spaniards, personae non gratae on Tuesday 5 June. The Syrian foreign ministry stated, however, that the government still believes in the importance of dialogue based on the principles of mutual respect and equality, adding that Damascus hopes that the countries which expelled the Syrian diplomats will adopt these principles, thereby allowing relations to return to normal.
On Wednesday Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson for EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, stressed that the “the delegation remains open. There are European diplomats and a few member state diplomats who work with our team.” She said that the decision to stay had been taken with the support of the member states. “We will remain there as long as it is possible”, she added. She pointed out, too, that the Syrian opposition had asked the EU to remain.
Elsewhere, according to Turkish diplomatic sources, several foreign ministers, including Ahmet Davutoglu (Turkey), William Hague (UK), Laurent Fabius (France), Hillary Clinton (USA) and some Arab ministers had been invited to Istanbul on Wednesday evening for discussions on the situation in Syria. Russia and China have announced that they are looking to coordinate action to ensure that the United Nations peace plan is put into application. (CG/transl.rt)