Ekaterina Zaharieva: “I Want the Next Conference on Syria to Deal with Its Recovery”
25 April 2018 News
“I hope that next year’s conference on Syria will focus on its recovery, that hostilities will have ended by that time, the political transition will have started, and we should be thinking about ways to help the recovery of Syria and the safe return of refugees,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva said in Brussels today. She took part in the Brussels II Conference on “Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region”.
The European Union and the UN co-chaired the forum, which was attended by representatives of more than 85 countries and international organisations. On behalf of the EU, the Conference was hosted by High Representative Federica Mogherini and Commissioners Johannes Hahn and Christos Stylianides. On behalf of the UN, the event was under the auspices of Secretary-General António Guterres and his Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura.
Minister Zaharieva outlined the two principal purposes of the international forum. “One purpose is to show to the people of Syria that they are not abandoned, that this tragedy that has been going on for seven and a half years has not made us, the democratic international community, forget about these people. Sending a clear and strong political signal that Syria’s recovery can only start after a genuine political process is an important part of the Conference. We all admitted that, regrettably, the meaningful political process with concessions on both sides has actually not yet started,” she stated.
The chief Bulgarian diplomat pointed out that the participants in the forum agreed that, regrettably, since 2015, when the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution mapping out six steps for political transition and de-escalation of tensions in Syria, nothing had changed and the meaningful political process with concessions on both sides had yet to begin. “We all together must start implementing the decisions we have made. All parties to the conflict must make concessions for the sake of peace and stability in the region,” she insisted.
Zaharieva called on the Astana guarantors to enforce respect for the de-escalation zones so as to ensure humanitarian access. She stressed that the numbers are ever more staggering: over 13 million Syrians suffering and in need of constant humanitarian assistance inside the country, more than 6 million internally displaced, over 3 million refugees in Turkey, 1 million in Lebanon, and some 700,000 in Jordan.
“The entire international community must concentrate on providing humanitarian assistance in Syria as well as in the neighbouring countries, which bear the heaviest burden,” Minister Zaharieva said, pointing out that Turkey is the country which has sheltered 3.5 million Syrian refugees and that it is crucial for the EU to keep its commitment to provide 3 billion euro.
Bulgaria will contribute 150,000 euro in support of actions intended to address the severe humanitarian situation in Syria. The financing will be channelled through the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Our country will also provide 200,000 euro to the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis, also known as the ‘Madad Fund’. The Council of Ministers adopted a decision to this effect in mid-March.
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