site.btaForeign Minister Zaharieva: It Is Time to Admit Mistakes about Syria and Begin Compromising

Brussels, April 25 (BTA corr. Nikolay Jeliazkov) - Addressing a EU-UN donor conference on Syria here on Wednesday, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said it is time to admit mistakes about Syria and begin compromising.

She said she had voiced hope that next year's conference will focus on Syria's recovery after the end of military action when the political process will have begun and ways will be considered to return safely refugees to their native places so that they participate in the recovery of their country.

"We signalled that we all have to comply with the decisions that we have made. All stakeholders in Syria should realize that without compromises this won't happen."

Zaharieva said that the conference was a chance to show Syrians that they are not forgotten and abandoned seven and a half years after the start of the civil war.

The conference aimed to give a strong political signal that recovery efforts can only start after a genuine political process. "We all recognize that since 2015 and the UN resolution on the political process in Syria, a true political process with compromises on both sides has not begun," she added.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that today over 13 million Syrians need humanitarian aid, over 6 million are internally displaced, 3.5 million live in Turkey, 1 million in Lebanon and some 700,000 in Jordan. "The entire international community should focus on providing humanitarian aid not just for Syria but for the neigbouring countries as well," said Zaharieva. She added that the provision of humanitarian aid is important for Bulgaria along with a new EU tranche of 3.5 billion euro in support of Syrian refugees in Turkey.

Taking a reporter's question Zaharieva said that today Russia had been represented at a level of ambassador and voiced hope that this was not a sign.