Destroying ethno-confessional balance in Syria will be disgraceful - Lavrov

DVORIKI VILLAGE (Vladimir Region), July 22. /TASS/. Destroying ethno-confessional balance which has existed in Syria despite deadly wars would be a disgrace of our epoch, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday. The Middle East is the place "where three world religions - Islam, Judaism and Christianity - have co-existed for thousands of years," Lavrov told the National Educational Youth Forum "Territory of Meanings on the Klyazma." "What is happening in Syria now threatens to destroy the ethno-confessional balance which has been preserved despite deadly wars," he added. "If we witness the disruption of this balance in our epoch, it would be a disgrace for all of us," the foreign minister noted. "The number of Christians (in the Middle East) is rapidly decreasing, it has dropped significantly in Syria and Iraq," Lavrov reminded. "This tendency should be stopped. Together with our colleagues, including from the Vatican, we are holding several events to draw attention to inadmissibility of Christianophobia," he concluded. Read more