Brussels, 29/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - French President François Hollande said that he was ready on Monday 27 August, to recognise a temporary Syrian government as soon as it is formed. Saying that it was necessary to intensify efforts for the political transition to take place quickly, Hollande again appealed to the Syrian opposition to form a temporary government which is inclusive and representative and which can become the legitimate representative of the new Syria. For its part, the EU said that it is not able to recognise a government. The European Union as it stands does not recognise countries and governments - it is the member states which do this, Michael Mann, spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, said.
At a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday 29 August, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti confirmed that his country and Germany see in the Syrian National Council their main discussion partner in Syria.
West in favour of a buffer zone, not Assad.
The French president also said that he is working, with his partners, on the creation of a buffer zone in Syria in order to contain the flow of refugees. His minister for foreign affairs, Laurent Fabius, recognised however that its implementation was very complicated and necessitated a partial no-fly zone. “If these people [refugees], in the free zones controlled by the new Syrian army, come together, it is going to be necessary to protect them. This is called a buffer zone. We are in the process of reflecting on this. It is very complicated. We can't do it without the agreement of Turkey and other countries”, he said on French radio France Inter, adding that “a buffer zone, without a partial no-fly zone, is impossible”
The Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, has judged the setting up of these zones to be “unrealistic”. “Talk of buffer zones is firslyt not (an option) on the table, and seconlyd it's an unrealistic idea by states that are hostile and enemies of Syria”, he said in an interview on 28 August. The issue of a buffer zone should be discussed this Thursday at the ministerial meeting of the Security Council of the United Nations on Syria.
Boasting about the support of most Syrians, Bashar al-Assad also said in a television interview that “we are progressing, the situation on the ground is better but we haven't won yet - that still needs more time”, scoffing at the defections. “We are confronted by a regional and world war, so more time is necessary to win it”, he added. (Our translation throughout). (CG/transl.fl)