I thank Special Envoy Pedersen for his briefing on recent political and military developments, as well as the latest Syrian Constitutional Committee meeting held in Geneva last month.
As many other Council members, we are cautiously optimistic about the Turkish-Russian ceasefire agreement from March, which seems to be largely holding. We believe that six months of relative peace can pave way for renewed dialogue between the Syrian opposition and authorities in Damascus.
In this light – we also welcome the latest round of Constitutional Committee talks. We appreciate the fact that despite challenges posed by the outbreak of Covid-19, the parties are still engaged in the political process.
We thank the office of Special Envoy for facilitating the dialogue between Syrian parties.
The legitimate claims of the Syrian opposition must be taken into account, when looking into the future and rebuilding Syria. In order to allow genuine exchange of ideas among the parties to conflict, Estonia believes that the next important step is to make Constitutional Committee meetings regular. Delaying tactics of any sort cannot be accepted.
However, we want emphasize that a new constitution alone is not enough for solving Syria’s problems. Release of arbitrarily detained people, respect for human rights, and holding free and fair elections are the cornerstone of national reconciliation.
Estonia and the European Union remain committed to finding a lasting and credible political solution to the conflict in Syria. As such, we encourage all international actors to support the parties in achieving these aims, which are also implicit in the road-map for peace, set out in the Security Council resolution 2254 and the 2012 Geneva Communiqué.