Don't forget Syria, says EU foreign policy chief as international community raises over €6bn
The international community must not forget Syria, says the EU's foreign policy chief, as € 6.4 billion was raised for people impacted by the conflict in the embattled country.
Brussels played host to the sixth annual conference on 'Supporting the future of Syria and the region' on Tuesday, where Josep Borrell reminded people of the humanitarian disaster there, much forgotten in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
"You know that the needs re-main enormous," Borrell told reporters. "Even if Syria is not anymore on the front pages, on the headlines of the media around the world, even if we talk less about Syria, we are very much aware that 90% of Syrians living in Syria live in poverty.
"90% means everybody. Every-body in Syria, although (except) the people belonging to the regime lives in poverty. 60% suffer food insecurity and barely know where the next meal is going to come from and the Russian war will increase food and energy prices and the situation in Syria will become worse."
A total of 55 countries partici-pated in the annual conference, with the EU's contribution amounting to € 1.5 billion, aimed at ensuing continued support for Syrian refugees and their host communities.
However, according to Syrian activist Sawsan Abou Zainedin, much of the money promised on previous occasions has still not reached the necessary people.
"Aid has improved conditions or has contributed to improving the situation in multiple aspects, but it has also contributed to dan
gerous patterns on the ground," Abou Zainedin told Euronews.
"We have seen aid contributing to human rights violations, to entrenching existing divisions, it has also being part of the conflict economy in a way or another because it has been subjected to diversions and misuse by certain actors on the ground."
Borrell has promised to work with more accountable partners, with Russia not invited to the conference.
According to Brussels, the role of Moscow has so far not been that of the peacemaker it claims to be.
tion to green energy sources. In other words: “Behind every challenge there is an opportunity for growth”, a concept that pretty much sums up the essence of the summit.
On the second day of the event with Brussels’ big players taking the floor – it became more evident what “seizing the opportunity” mean for Europe today and what’s at stake.
As the focus shifted to security and to changes in the world order, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, clarified the idea by highlighting the fact that this is a historical turning point for Europe with the EU behaving as a geopolitical actor on both the military and the energy front.
It goes without saying that uni-ty among member states is a precondition for making the current crisis an opportunity for the 27country bloc. Yet how is it possible to preserve the unity of the EU as the bloc implements sanctions against Russia? That’s the question I decided to ask Roberta Metsola, the President of the EU parliament.
Her answer was straightfor-ward and left no room for doubt, making it clear that the EU cannot afford being divided: “If unity fails”, she told me, “political leadership fails too”.
But I guess it’s Metsola’s words as she addressed the opening speech earlier in the day that best portray where Europe is at these days. Taking inspiration from Draghi’s famous statement made at the height of the financial crisis when he helmed the European Central Bank - she said that Europe faces another “whatever-it-takes moment. A point in time”, she added, “which should lead to change”.