Tourism Minister: Full coordination with Russia to prevent western steps from suspending its membership in the UNWTO

Madrid, SANA -Meetings of the Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) kicked off Wednesday in the Spanish capital, Madrid, with the participation of the Syrian delegation headed by the Minister of Tourism, Muhammad Rami Martini.

Works of the first session witnessed sharp discussions on the main topic, which is the proposal of the Western countries to suspend the membership of Russia in the organization, as at the beginning of the session, the Russian delegation announced Russia’s position to withdraw from the UNWTO, in response to targeting its country and politicizing the work of the organization in contradiction its founding charter and objectives.

Minister Martini affirmed the Syrian stance represented by supporting Russia and the objection of holding such session along with the proposal of the European Group headed by France to form a committee concerned in reconsidering the suspension of Russia’s membership.

A number of countries objected to the legitimacy of the meeting, the violation of the charter of founding UNWTO, and the principle of suspending the membership of Russia, most notably China, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Belarus.

On the sidelines of the meetings, a consultative meeting was held between the Syrian and Russian delegations, which was chaired by Minister Martini from the Syrian side and by Russian ambassador in Madrid, Yuri Korchagin, from the Russian side  in which Minister Martini affirmed full coordination and the one stance with the Russian Federation.

The two delegations affirmed the continuation of coordination at all international forums and confronting Western attempts to isolate Russia, in addition to joint coordination in all political, economic and humanitarian fields between the two countries.

Baraa Ali/ Mazen Eyon