EU's Mogherini: We work with UN to end conflict in Syria

The European Union (EU) hopes to contribute in the UN-backed negotiation process on Syria through making proposals which may be considered at the upcoming talks in Geneva on February, Interfax reports.

"We are working together with the UN over the political section of the efforts aimed at putting an end to the conflict in Syria," said Frederica Mogherini on Monday after the EU Council at the level of foreign ministers at a press conference in Brussels. "We talked about all of this with the ministers (Foreign Affairs of EU - IF). We talked about the initiative of the European Union, and I told them about my intention to organize a conference on the future of Syria in Brussels together with the UN."

She pointed out that the preferred date for the meeting, to be held in tandem with the United Nations, would be in April 2017, and it will have a double purpose. On the one hand, to analyze the implementation of the donor commitments made at the London Conference in 2016, on the other hand, it is a political conference.

"We hope that in a few months after the resumption of the UN-backed Geneva peace talks on Syria, it could be a moment for the international community to turn the page and start the reconstruction of Syria on the basis of the UN Security Council resolution,” said the head of European diplomacy.

She added that all this is planned to carry out in cooperation with the UN and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria Staffan de Mistura.

Mogerini noted that foreign ministers came to the complete unity of views on the actions on Syria at the EU council meeting. The reason why the EU took the initiative on the future of Syria is its non-participation in the armed conflict as one of the parties, she explained.

"We do not have our own political priorities for Syria. On the contrary, our interest is linked to the resolution of the UN Security Council. It is based on the approach from the point of view of international law, international consensus. We want to see Syria united and at peace, having a society in which all citizens, no matter what their origin, religion, ethnicity, are respected equally,” Mogherini said.

The aim of the EU is to fulfill a UN Security Council resolution, to build Syria in which all Syrians feel at home, both who live there now and those who will come back, to ensure that the country which is capable of cooperation and peace with its neighbors will develop, explained the the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. This, in her view, motivates the EU's intention to mediate and to act for the sake of regional powers, especially the Arab countries, to be ready to turn the page of the Syrian conflict.

"The military sector does not concern us. We were not the military players and this increases our credibility for all Syrian citizens. We have not been involved in military actions. We are looking for a political solution. We provide our support. But it is clear that reconciliation and recovery can be achieved only through a political transition process," said Mogherini.