NEWS

Joint Statement of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev and the Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski on the crisis in Syria

The Press Secretariat has been authorized to disseminate a joint statement made by the President and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria on the crisis in Syria which reads as follows:

Bulgaria strongly condemns the attack with chemical weapons in the suburbs of Damascus launched on 21 August.  This attack is a violation of international law and a crime against humankind.

A categorical response of the international community will confirm the inadmissibility of such actions and will facilitate preventing a possible future usage of chemical weapons as well as their distribution.

We closely follow the actions taken within the UN, including the presentation of the report submitted by UN/Organization for the Ban on Chemical Weapons team on the attack launched on 21 August. The unambiguous interpretation of this report will assist the international community in taking efficient actions and further measures.

We join the efforts directed at drawing the international community’s attention to the issue of the non-usage of chemical weapons as well as the declared determination to prevent the usage of such weapons in the future. We consider these efforts as indicating the presence of a will to resume the peace process.

We positively assess the act of bringing the chemical weapons in Syria under international control. The initiative should secure transparency and control on the part of the international community and provide the necessary guarantees for non-usage of chemical weapons in this country in the future. It should achieve a tangible result and not be used by the parties in the conflict to gain time.

In this context we highly appreciate the agreements reached in Geneva between Secretary of State Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov on the quantities of chemical weapons possessed by the Syrian government and the periods for their destruction. These agreements should be promptly implemented, and the approved general framework for resolving the problem should be made more concrete and supported by the UN, should commit the countries involved in the conflict and provide for imposing sanctions in case it is not performed. As a side in the convention for banning the use of chemical weapons, Bulgaria is ready to make its contribution to their practical implementation.

Confirming the common position of the EU member states, declared by the EU on 7 September 2013 in Vilnius, Bulgaria also joins the G-11 joint declaration from St. Petersburg.

A political decision may put an end to the crisis in Syria. The UN can and should assume a leading role and fulfill the responsibility to find a political solution to the crisis. The diplomatic efforts should be directed at realizing the initiative for organizing a second peace conference in Geneva. A peaceful solution of the conflict will prevent new victims and will provide the opportunity for the refugees to return to their hometowns.