- Published: 12.10.2015.
FM Pusić: Syria needs stability to build peace
Our position is that the situation in Syria should be handled in two steps – the first is to end the conflict and the second is a political peacebuilding solution, said First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić ahead of today’s meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg
Our position is that the situation in Syria should be handled in two steps – the first is to end the conflict and the second is a political peacebuilding solution, said First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusić ahead of today’s meeting of the EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
In the first phase of the process, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad most definitely has a role, but in the phase of building peace he probably does not, Pusić said, adding that special envoy of the UN Secretary General Staffan de Mistura was in contact with all those who can contribute to ending the conflict, including Assad. Air strikes by Russian forces on certain terrorist groups correlate with the European Union’s efforts to fight terrorism in Syria, Pusić believes. “The question is to what extent does this represent support to the Assad regime, but the stepping down of the current government can be discussed only after the country is stable,” she said.
In regard to extending the mandate of the ALTHEA mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pusić said that given Croatia’s role in reviving the European integration process in Bosnia as well as the closeness of our countries, Croatia believed it should take part in the mission and that preparations to join ALTHEA the following year were underway.