PRESS RELEASE

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German Foreign Ministry, Norwegian Expert Cite Russia’s Key Role in Syria

Sept. 11, 2015 (EIRNS)—On Friday, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer cited Russia’s key role in Syria and stated,

“I think we would welcome the Russian Federation and the Russian president ... getting actively involved in the fight against ISIS, given the dangers arising from Islamist terrorism,”

reported Reuters today. Sputnik News reported that Schaefer also said,

“We cannot call into question the fact that Russia and Iran are very important participants in the Syrian [conflict] settlement for obvious reasons,”

specifically referencing the “technical resources these countries are providing to [Syrian President] Bashar Assad’s regime.”

Sputnik also reported today on an article in the Norwegian newspaper, Dagens Naeringsliv, by political scientist Janne Haaland Matlary, who served as Norway’s State Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1997 to 2000. According to Sputnik, “Matlary advises that instead of looking to the U.S. for leadership, European governments should take their lead from Russia’s realistic political approach to the [Syria and refugee] crisis, which provides support to the embattled Syrian President in fighting the Islamic State.”

Matlary, now a professor at the University of Oslo, says in the article,

“We created a power vacuum [in Libya], which was quickly filled by a variety of militias and terrorist groups, earning massive incomes on the illegal transportation of refugees and migrants.... The parallels with Syria are obvious,”

reported Sputnik.