EU Disagrees With Russian Call To Restore Syria To Stem Refugee Inflow - Envoy

The European Union is still reluctant to back Russia's reconstruction efforts in Syria as a way of encouraging refugees to return home, the Russian envoy to the union said Tuesday.

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2018) The European Union is still reluctant to back Russia's reconstruction efforts in Syria as a way of encouraging refugees to return home, the Russian envoy to the union said Tuesday.

"Despite all the persuasiveness and the non-politicized nature of this position, the EU is not ready to throw its weight behind it," Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview with Sputnik.

The European Union agreed with Turkey in 2016 to accept thousands of Syrian refugees living in Turkish camps in return for Ankara's promise to take back migrants who arrived in EU countries illegally.

The union has paid $3.5 billion to Turkey and is expected to extend a second tranche to Ankara to help it accommodate millions of Syrian immigrants.

Millions more are housed by Jordan and Lebanon. Chizhov said the latter had agreed with Russia's proposal.

"The EU also spends hundreds of millions on efforts to rescue, accommodate, treat, educate and relocate refugees, most of them from Syria ... This money could be spent more efficiently and maybe in more limited quantities if they invest in infrastructure [in Syria] to encourage the return of refugees," the diplomat noted.

The envoy criticized the European Union for putting the political process first. He argued that transition in Syria would not happen overnight and should be a result of parallel peace talks in Geneva and in Astana.