France: No Reasons for Normalizing Relations with the Assad Regime

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France: No Reasons for Normalizing Relations with the Assad Regime. PHOTO/Reuters

PARIS – The French Foreign Ministry has stated there is no reason to normalize relations with the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. A similar attitude was shown by a number of European countries.

“There is no reason to continue normalizing relations with the Syrian regime, which has cracked down on its people, prevented the return of refugees and caused instability in the region through drug smuggling,” stressed Ambassador Patrice Paoli, who is also in charge of Arabic communications at the French Foreign Ministry.

Paoli emphasized that his country considers that regaining stability in Syria cannot be achieved without a political solution that meets the hopes and ambitions of the Syrian people.

He also added that France would continue its diplomatic efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis and support the mission of the UN special envoy for Syria, Geir O. Pedersen.

This came hours after Britain, the United States (US), France and Germany issued a joint statement expressing their opposition to normalizing relations with the Syrian regime.

“We did not normalize relations with the Assad regime, nor did we finance the reconstruction of the damage the regime caused during the conflict or the lifting of sanctions,” the statement said, as quoted by the Middle East Monitor.

“In the interests of the Syrian people, we will not carry out normalization until there is authentic and lasting progress towards a political solution,” the statement added.

The four Western countries called for: “A political process led by Syria facilitated by the UN in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2.254 (passed in 2015)”.

(esn)