Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger has called on the European Union not to lift arms embargo on Syria and instead start a political process to establish peace in the Arab country.\n<\/p>\n
During a Friday interview with The Associated Press in Vienna, Spindelegger said that the EU’s arms embargo on militants fighting against the Syrian government should be extended to maintain the safety of UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights.\n<\/p>\n
Lifting the EU embargo “would give us real problems on the Golan Heights,” Spindelegger noted.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Austria has 377 soldiers in the 900-strong UN peacekeeping force deployed in the occupied Golan Heights. <\/p>\n
Spindelegger stated that the UN peacekeepers could be targeted if European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday decide to allow EU states to send weapons to the militants.\n<\/p>\n
The Austrian foreign minister went on to say that a supply of more weapons into Syria could worsen the crisis, threaten a US-Russian peace initiative and create more divisions in the UN Security Council.\n<\/p>\n
“We believe there are enough weapons in Syria,” Spindelegger said. “We support a cease-fire, not weapons deliveries.”\n<\/p>\n
So far European foreign ministers have failed to reach an agreement on whether to lift an arms embargo on the foreign-backed militants in Syria.\n<\/p>\n
Austria, Germany, Sweden and other states have expressed concerns that arming the militants would spread the deadly conflict, but France and Britain are pushing the 27-nation bloc to allow EU members to ship weapons to the militants.\n<\/p>\n
The Syrian crisis has dragged on for over two years, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the foreign-sponsored militancy.\n<\/p>\n
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.\n<\/p>\n
On May 18, Syrian President Bashar Assad said militants from 29 different countries are fighting against the government in different parts of the country.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cRecent credible reports show that there are approximately 29 nationalities of foreign fighters engaged in terrorism activities within Syria\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s borders,\u201d Assad told Argentine journalists in Damascus.\n<\/p>\n
GJH\/DB\/HN<\/p>\n