Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos set out the following basic positions in his remarks during the discussion on Syria that took place today at the Informal Council of EU Foreign Ministers in Vilnius:
• We have a clear point of departure. We all unequivocally condemn the use of chemical weapons as an abhorrent crime, and we all want to move within the framework of international law.
• We have a clear goal: To safeguard the political process, the prospect for Geneva II. But we have two major difficulties. The first is the inability of the Security Council to take decisions. The second, and more substantial, is the complex and contradictory situation that exists in Syria following the use of chemical weapons. It isn’t easy to shape a comprehensive strategy of the international community for a viable political solution in Syria.
• But that is what we have to do if we want to safeguard the Euroatlantic partnership and the existence of the European Union as a political entity.
• This is our real difficulty and our real obligation: to discuss and decide upon not just the reaction to the specific crime, but also the formulation of a comprehensive strategy on Syria that will lead to a real solution.
September 6, 2013