Statement by the YABLOKO party, 15.03.2016

The decision to withdraw the Russian Armed Forces from Syria raises as many questions as the decision to bring them there. The task to liberate 100 per cent of the Syrian territory from the control of the Islamic State, which is outlawed in Russia, and similar terrorist alignments which was claimed the goal of the operation was not fulfilled. At the same time, the side effects of the operation turned out to be too serious: the level of threat to the lives of Russian citizens on behalf of terrorists has raised considerably, tourism has experienced damage because the flights to Egypt and Turkey were grounded, the customs war with Turkey has undermined the business of many Russian entrepreneurs, [Russia] has damaged the relations with the countries where the majority of the population is represented by the Sunnis. Besides, according to the different estimations, one day of military operations cost from 4 to 8 million dollars of budget money. Taking the difficult economic conditions in the country into consideration, the appropriateness of these expenses with such unclear results raises doubts.

The Russian United Democaratic party YABLOKO supports responsible, reliable and consistent foreign and defense policy which would answer to the interests of the Russian citizens, the global status of our country and its potential weight in international affairs. The protection of the Russian citizens, minimisation of threats and risks to human health and safety, non-employment of excessive military force and maintenance of peace must be the main goal of such a course of foreign and defense policy.

Emilia Slabunova
YABLOKO Chairperson