“In their joint statement on Syria, the foreign ministers of the European Union’s member states stressed that the exclusive goal of Saturday’s joint American, British and French air strikes was retaliation for the use of chemical weapons and the prevention of their future use”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó declared on Monday in the recess of the session of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

At his press conference, the Hungarian Foreign Minister told the press: “It is the unanimous opinion of the EU’s member states that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, and that international organisations must take the firmest possible action with relation to the deployment of chemical substances as weapons”.

In its joint resolution with relation to Syria, the Foreign Affairs Council strongly condemned the repeated use of chemical weapons, which it called a serious violation of international law, humanitarian rights and human rights. The Ministers underlined that the attacks by the Syrian regime are causing a sustained humanitarian crisis in the country, and further intensifying the suffering of the Syrian people. The Foreign Affairs Council supports all efforts to stop the use of chemical weapons and will do everything possible to find a political solution to the conflict, the statement declared.

In the small hours of Saturday morning, American, British and French combat aircraft performed a targeted attack on several of the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons production facilities in retaliation for the chemical weapons attack in Eastern Ghouta on 7 April.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)