EU Financial support for stabilization in eastern Syria
Friday 03/May/2019 - 03:00 PM
The European Union has adopted a new 18 million euro program to support stabilization work in areas liberated from ISIS by the Global Coalition in northeastern Syria.
It said the new program will contribute to the provision of basic services, such as water supplies and demining, within the governorates of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor.
It is funded under the Instrument contributing to Stability and Peace and will complement ongoing humanitarian and stabilisation efforts by the European Union, EU member states and other partners from the Global Coalition.
“The European Union has always been at the side of Syrians. Since 2011, we have mobilized around 17 billion euros to help Syrians affected by the conflict and their host communities,” the EU's diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement on Thursday.
“In accordance with the commitments taken during the Third Brussels Conference, we are stepping up our engagement to address humanitarian needs and support stabilization” in the areas liberated from ISIS, she said.
“This work is essential to allow the local communities to go back to live in safety and we will never withhold our support to the Syrian people,” Mogherini added.
As the conflict in Syria has entered its ninth year with continued suffering and a dire humanitarian crisis, the liberation of provinces in northeastern Syria from ISIS by the Global Coalition constitutes an important step towards eliminating the threat of the terrorist organization in the region and remains a priority for the European Union, the statement said.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized European countries he said were refusing to take back militants being held in Syria by coalition forces.
"European countries are not helping at all, even though this was very much done for their benefit," he said in a tweet. "They are refusing to take back prisoners from their specific countries. Not good!"
Trump said 1,800 prisoners were taken in the final campaign to recapture ISIS territory in Syria.
At the end of March, coalition-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared the end of the so-called ISIS caliphate after the fall of the organization’s last stronghold in the Syrian village of Baghouz.
