In press release published a few hours after a meeting of a CSN delegation with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini on Monday 15 January, the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) called on Europeans to increase pressure on Bashar al Assad's regime (see EUROPE 11939).
"The EU and member states need to increase pressure on the Assad regime and its international backers, including through targeted sanctions, leveraging trade relationships, and leadership in pursuing justice and accountability for the hundreds of thousands of Syrians affected by war crimes", the CSN states.
According to the press release, Nasr Al Hariri, who led the CSN delegation in Brussels, "urged the Europeans to develop the necessary leverage to help change the fundamental dynamics obstructing the UN-led process" in Geneva – a process which is stalling.
Although Russia, Iran and Turkey are organising discussions in Sotchi at the end of January, Hariri stated that "international support should be focused solely on enabling the UN-led process rather than distracting parallel processes". "Only the Geneva process provides Syrians and the international community the best opportunity for a sustainable end to the conflict", he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)