Belgium Not Sure UN Would Give Mandate For Mission In Northern Syria - Defense Minister

(@FahadShabbir)

Belgium Not Sure UN Would Give Mandate for Mission in Northern Syria - Defense Minister

Belgium, currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, is not expecting simple and effective talks at the United Nations when discussing the idea of an international safe zone in northern Syria, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Didier Reynders said Thursday

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th October, 2019) Belgium, currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, is not expecting simple and effective talks at the United Nations when discussing the idea of an international safe zone in northern Syria, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Didier Reynders said Thursday.

"Let's see if it will be possible to discuss this [mandate] at the UN; but in recent years it has not been so obvious to reach an agreement at the UN Security Council table. Maybe now, but I'm not sure," Reynders told reporters, answering the question if it was possible to convince Russia to provide the UN mandate on Syria.

Although the minister acknowledged the fact that after the conclusion of the Russian-Turkish memorandum, the situation in the region has changed.

"The situation is completely different now compared to a few days earlier," he said.

Earlier, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said she would propose NATO the establishment of a safe zone in Syria on the border with Turkey. According to the minister, the situation in Syria negatively affects European interests. Kramp-Karrenbauer noted that the actions of Berlin and Brussels have been too passive so far and a German political initiative would thus make sense.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in turn, believes that this is not a NATO mission, but an initiative that will require discussion at the UN.