Syria tops intl community agenda, says Hungarian cttee head

Brussels, February 23 (MTI) – The Syrian conflict, which features high on the international community’s agenda, and the possibilities of its settlement were in focus at a joint meeting of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and the heads of parliamentary foreign affairs committees of EU member states in Brussels on Tuesday, the Hungarian committee head said on Tuesday.

Ways of ending the civil war in Syria that has claimed several tens of thousands of lives so far is one of the major issues addressed currently by the international community, and the recent truce arrangement by the United States and Russia is seen as a step forward in a settlement process, Zsolt Németh told MTI during a break.

The participants expressed hope for a general ceasefire to take effect already this weekend as a result of the truce agreement brokered on Monday, he said.

The agreement could also pave the way for a collective and coordinated international effort in fighting against the Islamic State terrorist organisation, he said.

The truce arrangement could potentially change the EU’s relations with Moscow, he said.

“This new quality relationship with Moscow could also have an influence on settling the situation in Ukraine,” he said.

In his address Németh pointed out to Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, that one of the most complex and most sensitive issues and the key question of arranging peace in Syria is whether a satisfactory solution can be found to the situation of the Kurdish community in the country.

He said that the parliamentary committee heads will meet NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg later in the day.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters