Safadi meets peers, de Mistura in Davos

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Wednesday met with several senior European officials on the sidelines of the Davos World Economic Forum, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Safadi met with his Finnish and Swiss counterparts Timo Soini and Didier Burkhalter, with where they discussed the Palestinian issue and the Syrian crisis and its impact on Jordan.

The top diplomat stressed the importance of resuming serious and effective peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis to realise the two-state solution, which will lead to establishing a Palestinian state within the 1967 lines and with East Jerusalem as its capital, to live side-by-side with Israel.

He warned against unilateral measures that would undermine the two-state formula and change the status quo of East Jerusalem, adding that anything that would threaten the Muslim and Christian identity of the holy city would provoke all Arabs and Muslims across the world.

Safadi told the two ministers that Jordan will continue honouring its religious and historical responsibilities towards the Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif and will continue protecting the Muslim and Christian shrines against any violations.

He outlined the social and financial burdens shouldered by Jordan as a result of receiving 1.3 million Syrian refugees, noting that the Kingdom has already reached its capacity limits in light of the world's failure to fully commit to helping the Kingdom in providing services to refugees and host communities.

The minister said that the international support should focus on the development needs of Syrians and host communities, especially in the field of education, as investing in educating children means investing in a safer future for the region and the world, as opposed to leaving them vulnerable to extremist ideologies.

Soini and Burkhalter expressed appreciation for the Jordanian efforts in this regard, stressing keenness on cooperation to help the Kingdom manage the refugee crisis.

Safadi also met with UN Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, over means to solve the Syrian crisis.

They went over preparations for the Astana conference on Syria.

The foreign minister stressed Jordan's support for efforts aimed at ceasing hostilities and bringing an end to the Syrian people’s suffering through a political solution.

Also on Wednesday, Safadi received a phone call from Qatari counterpart Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

The minister stressed his country’s keenness to develop cooperation with Jordan and coordination to support bilateral and pan-Arab causes.