Federica Mogherini – Photo EU Council
(LUXEMBOURG) – The EU called on Russia and the Syrian regime to stop bombing Aleppo Monday, and guarantee an effective ceasefire and avoid further humanitarian catastrophe.
At the meeting of foreign affairs ministers, the EU said there had to be an end to all military flights over Aleppo. An immediate cessation of hostilities should be monitored by strong and transparent mechanism, sieges had to be lifted, and country-wide humanitarian access guaranteed.
The EU’s foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, said the “absolute priority” was to save lives. “The world cannot stand by and watch what is happening in Aleppo”, she said.
“There can be no military solution to the conflict”, she added, “a political solution must be sought. The EU has decided to launch a dialogue with key regional actors to prepare the ground for a political transition, reconciliation and reconstruction.”
The Council’s conclusions on Syria strongly condemned the attacks by the regime and Russia, in particular “the disproportionate and deliberate targeting of civilians, and humanitarian and health care personnel.”
The statement stressed that the EU is “determined to save lives and will continue its intense humanitarian diplomatic effort to deliver aid to Aleppo and to evacuate the wounded.”
Also on the agenda was the issue of migration. Here Ms Mogherini reported on the first results of the EU’s partnership framework approach and on the work on country specific compacts with the five priority countries, namely Mali, Niger, Senegal, Nigeria and Ethiopia, with the aim to better manage migration together.
Ministers welcomed progress achieved so far on the partnership framework approach. In their discussion they suggested to progressively broaden the geographical scope of the ongoing work to partners in the Middle-East and in Asia.
The Council also adopted decisions regarding the partnership priorities and compacts with Jordan and with Lebanon.
