Brussels, 17/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 16 November, the German Foreign Minister, Frank Walter Steinmeier, said that it will be necessary to step up the military resources against the terrorist organisation Daesh, even if it is not enough to guarantee its defeat.
“We cannot do anything other than step up the military resources”, he told the committee on foreign affairs of the European Parliament, although on its own, “the military aspect will not allow the conflict to end”.
He stressed the importance of intra-European solidarity, with the French President, François Hollande, having called for more support from the other member states (see other article). “In terms of European solidarity, I agree with those who say that we cannot make do with a few declarations after a tragedy like Paris, we are all in the same situation”, he said.
Germany is not, however, planning on changing its approach, preferring to continue to carry out training activities for the moderate groups fighting in Syria, rather than carrying out military operations against Daesh. “I do not believe that it is up to us to stand for strikes but to train the fighters who are fighting Daesh on the ground”, he said, adding that Germany had decided to supply military equipment to the Kurdish fighters, even though this issue has divided German public opinion.
He said that nobody wants to see NATO intervention in Syria and “this is why we have to work towards getting the countries of the Middle East more engaged” in this conflict. He said that progress had been made with two recent international meetings in Vienna, on 30 October (see EUROPE 11423) and 14 November (see EUROPE 11431). “Three weeks ago, I would not have believed it possible to have Iran and Saudi Arabia around the same table. The fact that this happened is an important success”, he stressed. He added that he hoped for a ceasefire between the forces of Bashar al-Assad and the moderate opposition so that all efforts can be focused on the fight against Daesh. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)