The European Union will have to take an active role in stabilising the situation in Syria after Islamist-led rebels announced on Sunday that they had seized control of Damascus and overthrown President Bashar al-Assad, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister-designate Kęstutis Budrys has said.
“Seeing what is currently happening in Syria, we certainly cannot rest assured that things will stabilise and proceed peacefully,” Budrys told LRT TV on Sunday. “We’ll see how successfully the situation can be stabilised internally and how much external players can contribute to such stability. I mean, first of all, the European Union.”
“The role will certainly have to be direct, by getting involved in the processes. We'll see how capable we are of building a more secure neighbourhood and a stable region in the Middle East,” he added.
Budrys pointed out that the EU has already made a significant contribution to addressing the fallout from the Syrian conflict, including hosting and supporting refugees and tackling humanitarian crises.
According to the foreign minister-designate, the Assad regime in Syria managed to hold on to power “only because it was backed by Iran and Russia”, which could send a signal to other Kremlin-supported regimes.
Islamist-led rebels announced on Sunday that they had captured Damascus in a lightning offensive, forcing President Assad to flee the country and ending five decades of Baath Party rule in Syria.
Assad had ruled Syria since 2000, having inherited the power from his father.
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