EU delegation, foreign envoys call for 'urgent action' on South Sudan peace

ISTANBUL

Foreign envoys from the EU and a group of foreign embassies have called for “urgent action” to move South Sudan toward peace, according to the German Embassy.

Expressing “grave concern” over the state of peace in the East African nation on Tuesday, the envoys, representing regional states and key donor countries, urged President Salva Kiir and suspended First Vice President Riek Machar to take steps using inclusive dialogue, the diplomatic mission said late Wednesday through US social media company X.

It said ambassadors and representatives from Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Norway, the Netherlands, Sudan, Uganda, the UK, and the US, along with the EU delegation, supported the call.

South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, gained independence from Sudan in 2011 following a referendum.

However, it has remained mired in conflict since December 2013, when President Salva Kiir Mayardit dismissed and accused then-Vice President Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

Despite peace deals signed in 2018 and 2022, instability persists.

In February, a militia group known as the White Army, largely made up of members of Machar’s Nuer ethnic group, seized a town in the Upper Nile State. In response, several generals and government ministers affiliated with Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition were detained.

Opposition leader Machar and several other detained figures face serious charges, including murder, treason, and crimes against humanity, and are also accused of conspiracy, financing terrorist activities, destroying public and military property, and inciting violence in Nasir County.