Lavrov: Western countries impede the return of displaced Syrians to their homeland

MOSCOW, (ST)_ The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has affirmed that Western countries impede efforts being exerted for the return of the Syrians refugees who left their homes due to terrorism, calling upon these countries to stop their acts in hindering the requirements of the UN resolution in terms of finding appropriate circumstances for their return.

 

Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday that the Western countries are obliged to stop subversive acts aiming at hindering efforts exerted for the return of the displaced Syrians to their country, stressing the need to adhere to the resolution.

 

He pointed out that the Western countries are not concerned with constructing an infrastructure for the return of the displaced to their homeland, but collect money only to keep them in the countries to which they left in the first years of the crisis.

 

The Russian top diplomat appealed to the Western countries to lift the unilateral coercive measures imposed on Syria and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of its lands.

 

He called on the European Union countries to avoid double standards in addressing the migration crisis at Belarus’ border with Poland and Lithuania.

 

“It is necessary to avoid double standards in this situation and use a common approach in what concerns the European Union nations’ position,” he added.

 

“It is inadmissible to use different standards to Poland and Italy when Brussels considers the issue how Warsaw and Rome are behaving in relation to migrant influxes. It is also necessary to avoid double standards in relation to the countries where the refugees are coming from,” he said.

 

The Russian top diplomat recalled that when refugees were reaching Europe from Turkey, the European Union allocated funds to keep them in Turkey. “Why cannot they help Belarus like this? Belarus also needs money to ensure normal conditions for the refugees Lithuania and Poland are reluctant to let in. These people don’t want to stay in Belarus or Turkey, they want to go to Europe, which has been advertising its lifestyles for years. One should be accountable for one’s actions,” Lavrov stressed.

 

“This crisis stems from the policy NATO and EU countries have been pursuing in the Middle East and North Africa for years, trying to impose a better life and the Western vision of democracy on them,” he said, adding that Iraq, Libya, and Syria fell victim of this policy.

 

Basma Qaddour