Strasbourg, 11/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 11 September, on the sidelines of the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, Syrian citizens asked the international community and the EU to take action - especially to provide arms. “We hope that all the statements, and all the words will be turned into action. (…) All that we ask is that you try to protect the civilians (and) at least help the free army by providing arms”, said Deiaa Aldeen Doghmugh, stressing the despair of Syrian society with regard to the attitude of the international community. Rami Al Jarrah asked the EU to respond as well as possible to the request for the creation of an “absolutely vital” no fly zone. He spoke of the need for a monitoring committee to be able to follow the situation in Syria. “The European Parliament has an important role to play in this context. Europe would without doubt be accepted by Syrian public opinion while other countries might be accused of pursuing objectives regarding Syria”, he said.
The Lebanese politician Ahmad El Hariri warned against an extension of the Syrian conflict to Lebanon. He called on the EU to put pressure on the United Nations to see how to use Unifil (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), which is based in the south of Lebanon, to control the border as far as, in his opinion, Lebanese Hezbollah troops are helping the Syrian regime. Saying that numerous refugees in Lebanon are not helped by the Lebanese government, El Hariri stressed the need for a European observation mission in order to identify these refugees, who are scattered throughout the country. He also considered it necessary to help the Lebanese army “because stability must be maintained in Lebanon”.
Humanitarian priority at European level. During the plenary discussion, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton stressed the “absolute priority” of the humanitarian situation in Syria, recalling that the EU was continuing to work on the political and diplomatic fronts. Support is brought to the opposition for it to unite and succeed in finding a viable plan for the future. Ashton said that action was needed now. “Waiting is not an option. The priority is to stop, or at least reduce, the violence and the deaths”, she said, adding that it was important to do everything to promote political transition. Although Ashton called yet again for the opposition to unite, she also asked the international community to unite its efforts behind the special envoy of the UN and Arab League, Lakhmar Bahimi, to “ensure complete coordination” and bring about “tangible results”. Too many “groups and initiatives” have been tried, she said. In Ashton's opinion a solution can only come through the renewal of diplomatic efforts involving all the partners.
In the opinion of José Ignacio Salafranca (EPP, Spain) “the time has come to make decisions (and) to move from words to action”. He questioned Ashton on the humanitarian corridors, the flight exclusion zones and on arming the opposition. Véronique de Keyser (S&D, Belgium) and Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium) considered that it was difficult to speak of political transition without the conflict being resolved. Rui Tavares (Greens/EFA, Portugal) for his part called on the member states to welcome the Syrian refugees. (CG/transl.fl)