EU warns of regional explosion if Syrian crisis not resolved

The European Union on Wednesday urged the international community to take decisive moves to end the Syrian crisis or the world would face a big catastrophe. "If we don't act decisively an explosion in the region will inevitably have horrible consequences for the whole world but primarily for us in Europe," warned the EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva. Speaking at a conference on "the conflict in Syria and the humanitarian impact on the region" at the European Parliament here this evening, she said: "With Geneva II on the agenda and Kuwait 2 meeting on 15 January a strong mobilisation is needed to put pressure and create appetite for peace and for access of humanitarian aid especially for millions of Syrian children." "This crisis is extraordinary . It involves us all. It is on the world consciousness. There is a date on 22 January for the start of the Geneva II negotiations. "The world community keeps it finger crossed that these negotiations success because this is the only way forward," she pointed out. Earlier today, Georgeiva met the Heads of the UN Refugee Agency, the UN World Food Programme and UNICEF, and signed three contracts with them totaling 147 million euro (USD 202 bn ) to deliver aid to people directly affected by the Syrian crisis. The UN has come up with the largest ever humanitarian aid appeal of USD 6.5 billion for Syria and the neighbouring countries, noted the EU Commissioner. She said that nearly 9.3 million people inside Syria need humanitarian assistance. She hoped that the United Nations Security Council will be able to unite on a resolution on humanitarian aid to Syria. On her part, Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the conference that the Syrian crisis has a direct impact on the EU. "We are seeing increasing radicalisation on the ground in Syria with the involvement of about 1200 groups many of them with foreign fighters and a number of whom come from the EU," she said. There is an increasing number of refugees from Syria coming to the shores of Europe, noted Amos. Anthony Lake, the Executive Director - UNICEF, said there are over three million Syrian child refugees in neighbouring countries "The future of Syria will be built by the children of Syria," he said, and warned that "we may lose this generation of children to hatred.