Strasbourg, 12/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 12 June, French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius underlined the need to rebalance the forces in Syria. “Re-balancing is needed (between the regime's troops and the resistance) because over recent weeks Bashar al-Assad's troops and, in particular, Hezbollah and the Iranians, with Russian weapons, have reclaimed considerable ground”, he said. Like his British counterpart William Hague on 9 June, Fabius stressed that the changes in the situation on the ground do not help the organisation of the peace conference. “We must stop this because if there is no rebalancing on the ground there will be no peace conference in Geneva - because the opposition will not agree to come. But we need a political solution”, he said.
Fabius' spokesperson stated that previous day that “for the parties to be able to negotiate, there must not be one in a position of too great a weakness and the other in a position of too great a strength”. Hague said that the way in which the position on the ground is changing does not help a political and diplomatic solution to be found. “The regime has gained ground on the ground (…) This makes the Geneva conference harder to bring about and to make a success. It makes it less likely that the regime will make enough concessions in such negotiations, and it makes it harder to get the opposition to come to the negotiations”, Hague added.
Discussion on the supply of weapons, not before 1 August. And due to this situation, Paris is wondering about the supply of weapons. “In order for the resistance to be able to defend itself, they need to have arms”, Fabius said. “We must respect the European regulation which says that it is from 1 August that powerful arms can be given. For the moment, we have not yet decided”, he added. During the decision to lift the arms embargo, the member states were committed to not going ahead “at this stage” with the supply of arms to the opposition, and to reviewing their position before 1 August - without it clearly being indicated that there would be no supply before this date (see EUROPE n. 10854).
“The fall of Qasayr and what is likely to follow introduces a radical new element (…) The decision to supply weapons has not been taken, but it is the subject of reflection and discussions”, Fabius' spokesperson stated, adding that talks have taken place with France's partners - including the USA, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. “We are at a turning point in the war in Syria”, he said, adding that “we cannot leave the opposition in the position it is currently in” (our translation throughout). A French representative will meet Salim Idris, the commander from the Free Syrian Army, on 15 June.
Hague confirmed that the British parliament would vote before sending weapons.
Elsewhere, the first Austrian troops from the UN - between 60-80 men -began to leave the Golan Heights on 12 June. (CG/transl.fl)