ZAGREB: EU countries gave a cautious welcome on Friday to a Russian-Turkish cease-fire in Syria but urged warring parties to allow in more humanitarian aid.
Foreign ministers from the 27 EU states held talks in Zagreb on the crisis in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, where Ankara is battling Moscow-backed government forces.
“For sure I am pleased for the cease-fire, the cease-fire is good news. At least it’s goodwill — let’s see how it works,” Josep Borrell said.
Nearly a million civilians have fled their homes due to the Idlib fighting, dubbed by the UN the worst humanitarian emergency since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
The ministers called “in the strongest possible terms” for the cease-fire to be implemented to protect civilians and “to enable the unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance by the international community.”
The EU has announced €60 million ($68 million) in humanitarian assistance for northwest Syria, as part of a €170 million package for those in need across the war-torn country. But Borrell warned that logistics were a bigger challenge than financing — the difficulties of trucking in supplies to feed and shelter a million people in the middle of winter.
“It is important now to concentrate on humanitarian aid and I would welcome if Russia would respect the concept of humanitarian aid corridors to be widened,” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said.
Ireland’s Simon Coveney said there was “relief” among EU countries at news of the cease-fire.
HIGHLIGHT
Foreign ministers from the 27 EU states held talks in Zagreb on the crisis in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, where Ankara is battling Moscow-backed government forces.
“But there’s still an extraordinary humanitarian challenge that I think we all face in terms of the sheer numbers of refugees that had been displaced because of the conflict there,” Coveney added.
Some EU countries, notably the Netherlands, had called for a no-fly zone over Idlib to stop the regime bombing civilians.
But the EU has no power to implement or enforce such a measure and officials are privately skeptical.
“We all know this would need UN mandate, would you get that?” a senior EU official said, alluding to Russia’s right of veto at the UN Security Council.
“A no-fly zone always sounds nice but needs to be militarily enforced. Who would do that?”
The ministers’ statement did not mention a no-fly zone but stressed the importance of protecting civilians from air attacks.
Intense fighting has killed dozens of Turkish soldiers in Idlib in recent weeks, as Ankara launched a direct offensive against Bashar Assad’s forces for the first time.
The escalating crisis prompted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to open Turkey’s border with Greece to refugees and migrants.
Turkey has demanded the EU’s support for its actions in Syria and some in the bloc have accused Erdogan of using migrants as “blackmail.”
In their statement, the ministers repeated their rejection of “Turkey’s use of migratory pressure for political purposes,” after a week of dramatic scenes on the Turkish-Greek border.
“Illegal crossings will not be tolerated. In this regard, the EU and its member states will take all necessary measures, in accordance with EU and international law,” the statement said.
