Slovakia has been and still remains an opponent of exporting arms to Syria, said Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák (Smer-SD) during Parliamentary Question Time in on Thursday. This question was submitted by Milan Géci (Smer-SD), who pointed out that the development of the crisis in Syria has claimed 100,000 lives and created 1.5 million refugees. Géci asked whether the EU's embargo issued on Monday on arms supplies to Syrian insurgents will soothe the suffering of the Syrian people.
“This is an ill-starred decision adopted at an unfortunate time,” Lajčák said concerning the verdict of the Foreign Affairs Council, but added that this was a compromise that couldn't be avoided. According to Lajčák, EU countries won't automatically start exporting arms to Syria. “We don't think that arms supplies contribute to the political solution of conflicts. Slovakia is at the same time trying to help reduce the suffering of the Syrian people,” said Lajčák, adding that Slovakia has donated €190,000 for this purpose.
