Brussels, 17/05/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 17 May, the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) called on the Syrian parties to return to the negotiations table “at an appropriate time” but did not give any further precision on the date. According to High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, this call is the main “political result” of the ISSG in Vienna.
“On the basis of the Geneva Communique, the ISSG urged the parties to engage constructively with the UN Special Envoy in addressing the fundamental issues for a transition (…) ISSG Members believe that the parties should return to negotiations on that basis at an appropriate time”, the ISSG members (representatives from 22 states, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Russia, the USA, China, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and from the Arab League, the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, the United Nations, and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini) state in their 4-page communiqué.
At the end of their meeting, French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault nevertheless said that the objective was to reach a resumption of talks “in early June”. Mogherini meanwhile said she hoped the meeting might encourage the Syrian parties “to enter discussions with a sense of compromise, so as to find a solution”.
Although in its joint statement, the ISSG mentioned the “target date” of 1 August for the parties to reach “agreement on a framework for a genuine political transition”, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in a press conference that he thought 1 August was “a goal” and not a “deadline”. He added that they all recognised that if they made significant progress and moved forward, they would uphold the process.
Making a true ceasefire from the cessation of hostilities.
Alongside progress in the negotiations, the ISSG also backs the option of transforming the cessation of hostilities into a fuller national ceasefire. The Group thus reiterated the need to solidify the cessation “in the face of serious threats, particularly during the past several weeks”. The ISSG members therefore urge “full compliance of the parties to the terms of the cessation, including the ceasing of offensive operation”, and undertake to use their influence with the parties to the cessation to obtain this compliance. The Group also threatens the parties that should there be persistent non-compliance with the cessation of hostilities, there could be “appropriate action, including the exclusion of such parties from the arrangements of the cessation and the protection it affords them”. “Moreover, the failure of the cessation of hostilities and/or of the granting of access to the delivery of humanitarian relief will increase international pressure on those failing to live up to these commitments”, the ISSG members warn in their statement.
Call for immediate lifting of sieges.
The Group also called once again for the immediate lifting of all sieges in Syria - sieges which are in violation of international humanitarian law. Although, since the last ISSG meeting on 12 February, the UN has been able to supply help to over 225,000 people in besieged areas and 473,000 people in areas that are difficult to reach, “the Syrian government has yet to permit access to many locations”, the ISSG states. “Starting 1 June, if the UN is denied humanitarian access” to any of the designated besieged areas, the ISSG “calls on the World Food Program to immediately carry out a program for air bridges and air drops for all areas in need”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)