Plan to ‘freeze’ fighting in Aleppo supported by EU foreign ministers

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels have given their backing to a UN-led "freeze" in the city of Aleppo, in a bid to improve the humanitarian situation in Syria, which has become embroiled in Islamic State's offensive in the Middle East.

Following discussions with the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, on Sunday night, EU foreign ministers agreed to support an effort to implement a “freeze” in fighting in Aleppo, by helping with the reconstruction and rebuilding of local services.

"It is vital for the stability for any real hope for a solution in Syria, that Aleppo does not fall to Islamic State," Minister of State for European Affairs Dara Murphy said following the meeting. "Aleppo is more or less completely surrounded by Islamic State and that has resulted in an extremely difficult humanitarian situation."

Call for engagement

He added that there had been a call to all parties, particularly the Gulf states, to engage in the process to the benefit of the Syrian people.

The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, said this also included Iran and Russia. There was "a good chance for Russia to play a positive role in the region", she said. "Already in the talks we have had, I personally have had with [foreign minister Sergey] Lavrov some days ago, and many of the ministers around the table have had with Lavrov in the last weeks, Syria was already part of the agenda."

On the possible involvement of Iran, Ms Mogherini said that it was “not only the country with which we have nuclear talks. It is also a regionally important player. We will have to engage with Iran also in its neighbourhood.”

Syria topped the agenda of yesterday's Foreign Affairs Council, as part of Ms Mogherini's strategy of focusing on a specific policy area at each meeting. She will travel to Bagdad and Erbil next week.

Asked if the departure of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was still an objective of the EU, Ms Mogherini said it was a priority to ensure that “Syria’s future can and will be without Assad. Three years and a half from now, or even before, Syria can be a Syria without Assad and without Islamic State.”

Ghent siege

Meanwhile, in Ghent, 50 kilometres from the EU meeting, the Belgian authorities said a siege that saw three armed men enter an apartment in the Flemish city on Monday had no links with terrorism.

The incident, which occurred within hours of 20 citizens being taken hostage in a cafe in Sydney, ended without incident. Three men were detained by police.