Brussels, 18/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 18 January, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini called for the launch of inter-Syrian negotiations, planned for 25 January.
“It is crucially important for the process to begin”, Mogherini said at the end of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, at which Syria was the main subject. “I don't expect it to be easy or quick, but I do expect it to start in good faith and with enough political resolve inside and outside Syria that there can be commitment”, she said. “We don't expect the parties in a war to agree on something at the start of the process, but the process has the aim of defining the political resolve and the resolve of the parties - the regime and the opposition - to come together and begin a process which, from our point of view, is clearly a transition process”, she said. According to Mogherini, the EU will support the discussion on the political, diplomatic and logistic level - as it is supporting the opposition in the preparation of the negotiations.
Mogherini stated that the current situation in Syria is a “disaster”, that an end needs to be put to the civil war and that the parties must unite their forces to fight ISIL. Condemning the attacks against the Syrians, she said that without any improvement on the ground, the credibility and resilience of the political process risked being reduced.
Mogherini also said that the Council called for a reduction in tension in the region and for protection of the fragile process for a political solution in Syria.
At their meeting, the EU foreign ministers also prepared the conference to be held in London on 4 February. “It will be a conference of donors, but not only so (…) It will be a political conference where the leaders (…) will constitute an important contribution to the stability and management of the crisis inside and around Syria”, Mogherini stated. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)