Brussels, 09/09/2013 (Agence Europe) -The European Union has called for a “clear and strong” response from the international community to the chemical weapons attack in Syria on 21 August. It made this call in a press release adopted unanimously by the 28 EU member states in Vilnius on 7 September.
“In the face of this cynical use of chemical weapons, the international community cannot remain idle. A clear and strong response is crucial to make clear that such crimes are unacceptable and that there can be no impunity”, they state. The 28 EU member states want to “prevent creating a dreadful precedent for the use of chemical weapons in Syria again or elsewhere”. However, the ministers do not state what form the response should take.
Recognising that “a large scale chemical attack was perpetrated in the outskirts of Damascus” on 21 August, and that “information from a wide variety of sources confirms the existence of such an attack”, the ministers state that this attack “constituted a blatant violation of international law, a war crime, and a crime against humanity”. “We were unanimous in condemning in the strongest terms this horrific attack”, they added.
Regime's responsibility. The responsibility of the regime is highlighted. “It seems to indicate strong evidence that the Syrian regime is responsible for these attacks as it is the only one that possesses chemical weapons agents and means of their delivery in a sufficient quantity”, the EU member states point out in their statement. The EU recalls the individual responsibility of the perpetrators of attacks of this type, who must be held accountable, and the role of the International Criminal Court in investigating and judging such acts.
The ministers also underscore “the need to move forward with addressing the Syrian crisis through the UN process”, and the EU “hopes a preliminary report of this first investigation can be released as soon as possible and welcomes President Hollande's statement to wait for this report before any further action”.
In the view of several ministers, the French president's announcement that he would wait for the UN report was a turning point in the discussions - which were not going to be easy - even though, according to European sources, the majority of member states wanted, on Friday, to wait for the UN report. The report is due to be published within two weeks (see EUROPE 10916). This was the request of Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who was then reportedly backed by his counterparts. Waiting for the report is an issue of credibility, as several ministers suggested. In the view of Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, the report could be published in a week and half's time.
In its statement, the EU urges the United Nations Security Council to unite in its efforts to avoid any further chemical attack. “To that effect, it encourages the UNSC to fulfil its responsibilities and take all initiatives to achieve this goal”, the ministers state, saying that the EU and its member states intend to play a “full and active” part.
Once again, the ministers state that “only a political solution (…) can end this terrible bloodshed, grave violations of human rights and the far-reaching destruction of Syria”, and they call for the initiative for a peace conference to move ahead “swiftly”. “The need for a political solution is affirmed”, said Italy's Foreign Minister Emma Bonino, before adding that “there is no military solution” to the conflict in Syria.
The EU will also maintain its aid to the Syrian people, say the 28 EU member states.
Germany agrees with the statement of the G20 11. On Saturday, Westerwelle announced Germany's signature of the statement of the 11 G20 member states “supporting the efforts undertaken by the US and other countries to strengthen the ban on using chemical weapons”. This statement was signed in St Petersburg by France, the UK, Italy and Spain. Westerwelle said that Berlin had not put forward any notable objection during the presentation of the text the previous day on the sidelines of the G20. Although not a member of the G20, Denmark is also likely to associate itself to the statement, according to a Danish source, while Lithuania has also expressed its support of the text.
“Things have moved a great deal over the course of this weekend”, said France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, on returning to Paris. “What strikes me, is that as we gradually explain what this is about, ideas are moving”, he noted. He described the fact of Europe being welded together on the Syrian issue as a “good thing”. The European ministers' statement does not contain any reference to that of the G20, even though the usefulness of including such a reference was a point of debate in Vilnius.
EU 28's statement welcomed by the US. In Paris, after the informal foreign ministers' gymnich meeting in Vilnius, US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed Europe's commitment - describing the EU statement as “very powerful”. White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough also welcomed the European position. He said that the EU states that the Syrian government must be held responsible and that there no longer needs to be debate about whether the chemical weapons attack of 21 August took place or not. This is important, McDonough stated. According to an American at the AFP news agency, Kerry said “clearly that the US had not decided to wait” for the UN inspectors' report. (CG with OJ/transl.fl)