Meeting of EU foreign ministers – Outlook for Syrian settlement positive, says Szijjártó

Brussels (MTI) – Since the outbreak of the war in Syria, chances of a settlement have never been as good as they are today but there will be no solution if Russia and the United States fail to come to terms on the conditions, Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, said in Brussels on Monday.

US president-elect Donald Trump’s pragmatic position, the Syrian ceasefire agreement and the Astana peace conference starting on Jan. 23 may together pave the way for a settlement, Szijjártó told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

The debate over who should govern that country should only start once peace has been restored. The most proper way would be to let Syrians decide, he said.

“A long-term political solution in the region can only be reached if there is a process of decentralisation that provides every ethnic and religious community with a chance for a safe life,” Szijjártó said.

Christian communities should also be given a chance to return to the region and lead safe lives there, he said. Given that Christians today are unlikely to be able to return safely to the region, an “administrative zone” should be established there so the international community can guarantee the return of Christians, Szijjártó added. But this solution must not harm the territorial integrity or sovereignty of any country in the region, he said.

On the topic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Szijjártó said the international community must keep doing everything it can to ensure a two-state solution through peaceful negotiations. The Hungarian government does not support any measures that would lead further away from this goal, which was why Hungary neither supported the timing nor the formal arrangements of the recent Paris peace conference to which neither side was invited. “It is strange talking about a two-state solution while neither country is present,” the minister said.