NATO Parliamentary Assembly: “Military operation in north east Syria a security risk to us all”

LONDON - At the meeting in London, several delegations called for a meeting of the NAC, NATO´s principal political decision-making body, to address the situation in Syria.

Leading the European Parliament delegation of six members, Kris Peeters (EPP, Belgium) addressed the 65th NATO Parliamentary Assembly in London (11-14 October 2019) and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the security implications of Turkey’s unilateral military intervention in north east Syria.

Mr Peeters said: “Past achievements do not guarantee future success. Multilateralism is at the core of the Alliance and of the EU and the trust we put in our allies is crucial. This military operation in north east Syria is putting our security and that of our organisations at risk.”

Kris Peeters asked for a meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) in order to address the dire situation in north east Syria and to avoid more suffering of civilians, destabilisation and the population being displaced, which was supported by many other delegations.

The EP delegation to the 65th NATO PA was composed of: Chair Kris Peeters (EPP, Belgium), Vice-Chair Nathalie Loiseau (Chair of Subcommittee on Security and Defence, RE, France), Eva Kaili (S&D, Greece), Juozas Olekas (S&D, Lithuania), Petras Auštrevičius (RE, Lithuania) and Mazaly Aguilar ( ECR, Spain).