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Gerapetritis visiting Qatar and Kuwait to help broker peace in the Middle East

Gerapetritis visiting Qatar and Kuwait to help broker peace in the Middle East

The crises in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sub-Saharan Africa share a common feature in that they are huge and constantly expanding humanitarian crises, as well as the fact that there is a possibility of a spillover affecting millions of people and countries throughout the world, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said on Monday, in a doorstep statement on his arrival at the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Luxembourg.

He announced that after the Council meeting, he intends to go to Qatar and Kuwait "to find out the options in order to try to accelerate a peace process for the Middle East, which is now in a state of huge turbulence," working to shape a framework for peace in the long-suffering Middle East and to stop the humanitarian disaster that is taking place.

Specifically, the foreign minister stated:

"The Foreign Affairs Council will convene under very adverse and painful conditions. There are multiple crises around the world, [in] Ukraine, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and they all share a common feature: huge humanitarian crises, developing, expanding humanitarian crises and, on the other hand, the possibility of a spillover effect that will affect millions of people. The European Union, the foreign ministers will be in a situation of a fork in the road. Either we will proceed with a stronger involvement, a more active involvement in order to try to make a difference with peace processes around the world, or we remain in our position. We have done alot of things but apparently it's not been enough, so we will have to be more decisive and more active in many respects. Immediately after the FAC I will travel to the Gulf, to Kuwait and Qatar in order to find out the options in order to try and accelerate a peace process for the Middle East, which is now in a state of huge turbulence."