Today, Foreign Minister Sven Mikser was at the Brussels Conference on Supporting the future of Syria and the region, that sought to boost support for a political resolution to the Syrian conflict and for a political transition process. Foreign Minister emphasised that finding a lasting political solution to the Syrian conflict is crucial and affirmed that Estonia continues to offer support.
“We have witnessed the Syrian civil war for more than six years and it is time to end the systematic violations of human rights and international law, including the violence,” Mikser said. “Yesterday’s news about the use of chemical weapon in Syria further emphasised the need to end the civil war and hold the war criminals responsible,” he stressed. According to Mikser, it is also important to consider how to support Syria during the political transition after the conflict.
“Assad regime has not only failed to protect the citizens of its country - which should be the first obligation of the government- but has systematically committed heinous crimes against its people. Therefore, the situation of Syrian civilians and war refugees has to stay under the close attention of the international community,” Mikser said, “Today’s conference was organised because of one of the most tragic humanitarian crises of modern times, with lives of millions of people depending on humanitarian aid." Foreign Minister announced that from 2018-2019, Estonia will allocate 1.3 million euros for humanitarian aid to alleviate the situation of Syrian refugees. So far, Estonia has contributed 6.8 million euros.
The conference was co-chaired by the EU, Germany, Kuwait, Norway, Qatar, the UK and the UN. The conference, which was held at ministerial level, brought together 70 countries, international organisations and civil society.
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Sandra Kamilova
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Communication Department
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