The coordinator of the Identity and Democracy (ID) Group in the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, Thierry Mariani (France), called on the EU to resume contact with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday 25 July.
“It is in our interest to engage in a dialogue with the Syrian government”, he told EUROPE.
While the EU is calling for a democratic transition and the departure of Mr al-Assad, the deputy said that it takes a “dreamer to think that you can win the war and hand over the keys” to your country. “It is time to acknowledge that the government won the war and work with it”, he added, denouncing the hypocrisy of the Union, which refuses to work with Mr al-Assad, but does so with “Qatar and Saudi Arabia who finance terrorism”.
The MEP acknowledged that atrocities had been committed on both sides, “condemnable acts” and that there should be accountability. “Syria is a dictatorship, but a secular dictatorship that does not export Islamism”, he also explained.
Together with two French MEPs from the ID group, Nicolas Bay and Virginie Joron, Mr Mariani will visit Syria from 27 August to 1 September. The trip was planned before the European elections and does not take place within the framework of the European Parliament, but Mr Mariani said he was ready to inform his colleagues on his return, if the chair of the AFET committee so requests. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)