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Foreign Minister Maas travels to Washington for the meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh
Foreign Minister Maas issued the following statement today (5 February) prior to his departure for Washington, where he will attend the meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh:
The Global Coalition against Daesh has achieved a great deal together. IS has been pushed back in Iraq and in large parts of Syria. However, the threat posed by IS in Syria and Iraq has by no means been averted.
Millions of internally displaced persons have returned home in Iraq. Stability is slowly coming back. Germany’s support plays a crucial role in this. But much remains to be done to bring about reconciliation in society and to permanently dry up support for extremists. That is why we will now keep up our efforts.
We still do not have clarity in Syria about how a vacuum can be prevented after the announced withdrawal of the US troops, allowing old conflicts to escalate and IS to gain a foothold once again. I hope that the talks in Washington will provide more information on this.
Background information:
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas is travelling to Washington today (5 February) where he will attend the Foreign Ministers meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh and hold political talks, including with John Bolton, National Security Advisor to the US President. Apart from the situation in Syria, Venezuela and the future of the INF Treaty will be on the agenda.