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Foreign Minister Steinmeier on the situation in South Sudan

24.12.2013 - Press release

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier issued the following statement in Berlin today on the situation in South Sudan:

The news from South Sudan is grim. When the young state was founded less than two years ago, there were great hopes for peaceful development. The reality in Juba is very different, unfortunately.

I therefore welcome the decision of the United Nations Security Council to substantially increase the number of blue helmets serving in the country. The international community is taking action. What is crucial now is to prevent the clashes turning into an ethnically motivated civil war engulfing the whole country. Germany strongly supports international efforts, above all those being undertaken by our African partners, to defuse the situation and is providing political, humanitarian and development assistance to this end. In this dangerous situation I am very pleased that, thanks to sterling work by the Bundeswehr, over the past few days all German nationals have been flown to safety. To everyone involved in the evacuation I offer my thanks.

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