FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Austrian Foreign Minister at UNGA: Stop Talking and Start Acting To End Southwest Asia Wars
Oct. 1, 2018 (EIRNS)—In her address to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 29, Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl declared that her colleagues in the international community should talk less and act more to resolve critical situations, such as the wars in Syria and Yemen. Surprising her colleagues by speaking variably in Arabic, French, Spanish and English, TASS reported, Kneissl said:
“Unfortunately, we diplomats are often unable to ensure that the voices of those who live in darkness and misery are heard. Our diplomacy all too often gives priority to fine statements over genuine action. I would even venture to say that we accept a ‘dialogue of the deaf,’ when we limit ourselves to a ritual of simply reading out prepared statements. This way of thinking shows that we have lost contact with reality, we no longer understand the meaning of the genuine exchange of views.”
In criticizing the international community’s statements on Syria and Yemen, that are “full of litanies and mantras,” and “hackneyed arguments” she said:
“We are carried away by words such as reconstruction, stabilization, constitution and so on. Meanwhile, populations, children are just trying to survive. They need food, drinking water, few hours of electricity and a basic level of security.... That is why, beyond these lofty statements, Austria wants to contribute, as other countries already are doing, to financing the mine clearance system in Syria,”
she proffered. “And as concerns the greatest tragedy of our time—and here I’m referring to Yemen—Austria is ready to increase its humanitarian commitment.”
Karin Kneissl, who grew up in Amman, Jordan where her father worked as an airline pilot, received international media attention when Russian President Vladimir Putin attended her wedding in Austria earlier this year.
