Luxembourg, 21/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 21 October, EU foreign ministers urged “all sides” in the Syrian conflict to “respond positively” to the call by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for a peace conference before the end of November and to “adhere publicly to a credible political transition based on the full implementation of the Geneva Communiqué” of June 2012. The Council is thus calling on the Syrian opposition, one section of which, the Syrian National Council, has said that it will not take part in this conference, to “to come together and participate actively at the conference”. The EU “encourages the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SOC) to take a leading role during negotiations”, ministers add, stating that the EU stands ready to continue engaging with and to support the Coalition in these endeavours and its relations with the international community at large.
Ministers note that the aim of the conference must be “the swift establishment, by mutual consent, of a transitional governing body (TGB) with full executive powers and control of all governmental and all security institutions” and that the parties will have to agree during the conference on “clear and irreversible steps and a short timeframe for the political transition”. “International participants of Geneva II should adhere to the principles included in the Geneva Communiqué”, they add, referring to but not naming, inter alia, Iran.
Ministers also call on the regime to meet all its obligations “in the most complete, diligent and transparent manner” with regard to elimination of chemical weapons and on all sides to ensure free and unfettered access of inspectors to all sites. “The EU is concretely supporting the UN-OPCW joint mission in carrying out its important and urgent tasks and stands ready to consider further support”, the Council adds.
Ministers say the EU continues to be “extremely concerned” by the deteriorating situation in the country. They state that the EU is “seriously concerned” with the growing involvement of extremist and foreign nonstate actors in the fighting and call on all relevant parties to halt the support to these groups.
The previous day, EU High Representative for Security Policy and Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton welcome the release of the nine Lebanese pilgrims who had been taken in May 2012 and of the two Turkish pilots held hostage since August freed as part of an exchange agreement. (CG/transl.fl)