Belgian FM highlight minority rights in new Syria
WASHINGTON DC - Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot on Tuesday told Rudaw that his country wants the new Syria to be inclusive, adding that Brussels will send a new ambassador to Damascus.
“We consider that we absolutely need to give a chance to the current government. The Assad period was really dramatic. Of course, everything is not solved now, and one of the key aspects is certainly the attention that the new government absolutely needs to pay to all minorities - all of them in an inclusive approach,” Prevot said during an official visit to Washington DC.
“And a couple of weeks ago, I decided to send, for the first time, a new ambassador to Syria in order to be sure that we will accompany all the process, and I hope it will be possible to avoid any kind of problem in the reconstruction process of the country. But we absolutely need to pay attention on this inclusive process,” he added.
Violence has persisted in parts of Syria following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad’s regime by the now-dissolved jihadist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group’s former leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, currently serves as interim president.
Kurdish forces and armed factions affiliated with Damascus clashed again on Tuesday, days after the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) and the interim government failed to reach a new agreement on the integration of the Kurdish region’s military force and civilian institutions into the state institutions.
When asked about the integration and the condition of Kurds in Syria, the Belgian minister said he did not have all the details on the matter but noted that his country “will support all kind of integration that should contribute to, let's say, a kind of peace in the region, in order to be sure that we will avoid any kind of escalation, and it's important to respect the people, to respect the international law, and to be sure that the inclusive process that has been launched will really take care of all minorities.”
“We consider that we absolutely need to give a chance to the current government. The Assad period was really dramatic. Of course, everything is not solved now, and one of the key aspects is certainly the attention that the new government absolutely needs to pay to all minorities - all of them in an inclusive approach,” Prevot said during an official visit to Washington DC.
“And a couple of weeks ago, I decided to send, for the first time, a new ambassador to Syria in order to be sure that we will accompany all the process, and I hope it will be possible to avoid any kind of problem in the reconstruction process of the country. But we absolutely need to pay attention on this inclusive process,” he added.
Violence has persisted in parts of Syria following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad’s regime by the now-dissolved jihadist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The group’s former leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, currently serves as interim president.
Kurdish forces and armed factions affiliated with Damascus clashed again on Tuesday, days after the Kurdish administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) and the interim government failed to reach a new agreement on the integration of the Kurdish region’s military force and civilian institutions into the state institutions.
When asked about the integration and the condition of Kurds in Syria, the Belgian minister said he did not have all the details on the matter but noted that his country “will support all kind of integration that should contribute to, let's say, a kind of peace in the region, in order to be sure that we will avoid any kind of escalation, and it's important to respect the people, to respect the international law, and to be sure that the inclusive process that has been launched will really take care of all minorities.”