Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The candidate countries Türkiye, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina[1], and Georgia, the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as San Marino align themselves with this statement.

The EU thanks the Director General for the update provided in his opening statement to the Board, and the Secretariat for its tireless efforts to address the implementation of the NPT safeguards agreement in the Syrian Arab Republic.

It is now almost 13 years that the Syrian Arab Republic has been found in non-compliance with its Safeguards Agreement. This is deeply regrettable. The EU remains deeply concerned by the continued absence of cooperation by the Syrian Arab Republic and the lack of any progress in resolving the long outstanding questions regarding the Dair Alzour site and three other locations.

The EU supports the continued efforts of the Director General to re-engage with the Syrian Arab Republic including through his letters from May 2022 and August last year. In this regard, we hope that the upcoming visit of the Director General to Damascus will be an opportunity to address the unresolved issues and urge the Syrian Arab Republic to seize the opportunity to constructively engage with the Agency.

We, once again, strongly urge the Syrian Arab Republic to fully comply with the Board of Governors resolution of June 2011, provide the necessary information and cooperation to the IAEA, and conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol as soon as possible.

Chair,

The Syrian Arab Republic must be held accountable for its lack of action and urgently remedy this non-compliance. Until it fully cooperates with the Agency, we request the Director General to keep the Board of Governors informed about this issue and maintain this item on the Board agenda.

Thank you, Chair.

[1] North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.