MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Austria is ready to actively participate in restoring the Syrian city of Palmyra, Austrian Ambassador to Russia Emil Brix said.
“Austria is a member of UNESCO executive board, and we are also working in this direction and as far as Palmyra is concerned, we are involved in various activities, we are the cofounder of the so-called Emergancy7 safeguard of the Syrian cultural heritage project, which is, again, managed by UNESCO, the field office in Beirut, and there we are also financially involved,” Brix told RIA Novosti in an interview.

Brix said that it is more important to have experts on the ground rather than just donating finances to restore the ancient city that was damaged by Islamic State terrorists.
“In all these issues, we can only be one of the partners there because of the experience that we have. By sending experts, by providing the necessary infrastructure, because we have this cultural heritage tradition in our country. It’s sometimes more valuable to have the expertise and to have the experts than put directly money into such a project. But we also certainly do support financially at least this one project already,” Brix said.

He said money was an issue that would be needed once political stability is reached in Syria.
“Actually, the big money is needed when we have a political solution for Syria, and when it’s safe to rebuild there the culture heritage site in a way which can support also the reconciliation of people in Syria, which can also give them back the cultural self-confidence necessary,” Brix said.

Source: Sputnik, May 16, 2016