On Tuesday 9 March, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, stressed the EU’s inability to achieve peace in Syria, ten years after the start of the war.
“Let us try to be realistic. The European Union cannot solve this conflict alone”, acknowledged the High Representative during a debate on Syria in plenary session, while MEPs called on the EU to do more.
“The important thing is how to get out of this. It has to be step by step, looking for a consensus among the most important actors. If not, we will not be able to solve it. Don’t ask the European Union to solve what we cannot solve alone”, he warned.
However, Mr Borrell said he was ready to set up a forum bringing together the Astana guarantors - Turkey, Russia and Iran - and western players, in order to obtain a common understanding of the situation to end the conflict, explaining that the discussions will be very difficult.
In the meantime, according to Mr Borrell, the only solution is to keep up the pressure for a transition. “For real change. For Assad’s regime to be held accountable for a decade of war and brutal repression”, he added.
During the debate, many MEPs called on the EU to take action on accountability. On behalf of the Greens/EFA, the German MEP Katrin Langensiepen called for an EU strategy to end impunity. For Nathalie Loiseau(Renew Europe, France), the EU needs to show a much stronger commitment. She called for the prosecution of criminals who seek refuge in the EU. “In Syria, there will be no peace without justice, no return of Syrians without the return of the law to their country. Let’s act for them and act for our values”, she launched.
While welcoming the “constant” support and affirmation of the need for justice and responsibility by the MEPs, the High Representative explained that this would not be achieved by simply claiming it. “We need to put political agreements between the actors on the table. This is the only way out. Assad won’t leave because you ask him to”, Borrell insisted.
He also warned that the sanctions would not be lifted until a political transition was initiated. Sanctions criticised by Thierry Mariani (ID, France). According to him, European and US sanctions are starving the Syrians. “The Syrians lack medicines, food... everything they need”, he denounced, adding that humanitarian crimes should not be added to war crimes. Twelve million Syrians, nearly 60% of the population, are severely affected by food insecurity, according to Mr Borrell.
For her part, Isabel Santos of Portugal, on behalf of the S&D, called on Member States to repatriate their citizens, especially children.
On 29 and 30 March, Brussels will host the fifth conference on Syria. It must “be the place to revitalise the United Nations process, and it should be successful in raising pledges to meet the dramatic humanitarian needs of the Syrian people”, Mr Borrell said. “There is a certain fatigue in the international community to continue supporting the faith of the Syrian people after 10 years of pledging”, he, however, acknowledged.
The Austrian, Lukas Mandl, on behalf of the EPP, called for the EU, as the largest donor, to play a greater role in ending the conflict. Over the past 10 years, the EU has spent €22 billion “in assistance for needs inside Syria, in support of refugees and in support of refugee-hosting countries”, Mr Borrell said.
The European Parliament will vote on a resolution on Syria this Thursday. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)