‘We Count on European MPs to Correct EU Policies towards Syria’, Asserts PA Speaker

Speaker of the People’s Assembly [Parliament] Hadiyah Abbas has underscored the need to continue cooperation and communication with parliaments supporting peace all over the world.

Abbas remarks came during her today’s meeting with the European Parliamentary delegation visiting Syria.

“We count on the role of European Members of Parliament and experts to correct the European policies towards what is going on in Syria as regards terrorism and to review these policies that contributed to the spread of terrorism and extremism in the world,” the speaker said.

 She asserted that victory over terrorism necessitates serious international and regional cooperation, border control, dissemination of culture of tolerance, fighting religious extremism and pursuing countries that arm and finance terrorists.

“If the European governments are serious in protecting peoples, they have to change their wrong policies towards Syria and to cooperate with it in counter terrorism ,” Abbas added, clarifying that the big number of Europeans, who are fighting alongside ISIS and al-Nusra Front [Jabhat al-Nusra] pose a real threat to Europeans’ security if they return to their countries.

She asserted that the unilateral economic blockade imposed on the Syrian people causes big damage to civilians, especially in the fields of food and medicine, calling for the EU delegation’s members to convey the real image of what they saw in Syria to their parliaments in order to help lift the blockade imposed on the country.

Resumption of parliamentary relations

On his part, the visiting  EU delegation’s head Javier Couso, stressed that he is working with members of the delegation to resume relations between the EU parliament and that of Syria and between the foreign affairs committees in the two parliaments.

“We will never stop the serious work to resume relations between EU parliament and the Syrian parliament,” Couso said, pointing out that he has formed an association composed of the delegation’s members to support peace in Syria.

He made it clear that some of the delegation’s members visited Syria twice or three times and he himself visited the country six months ago, expressing his pleasure for coming to Syria again after the liberation of the eastern districts of Aleppo city from terrorists.

“The victories achieved by Syria in Palmyra city, Homs countryside and Ein al-Fejeh area in Damascus countryside will play a role in alleviating Syrian people’s suffering,” Couso added.

Member of the delegation Tatjana Ždanoka (Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance) affirmed that supporters of the delegation’s members exist in several EU countries and they can put pressure on their governments to resume relations with Syria.

Another member representing Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in Latvia Andrejs Mamikins said that he is visiting Syria for the second time since last December and he hopes to change public opinion of the European governments towards Syria as well as to contribute to re-opening Latvia embassy in Damascus.

Following the meeting held between the PA Speaker and the EU delegation, a press conference was held in which leader of the delegation condemned the two terror blasts that took place today in Damascus

“Such act is a terror act wherever it occurred in the world,”  Couso said, referring to the terror attacks that took place in Madrid, Paris and Brussels.

EU parliament destabilizes region

He asserted that he did not see any European aid during the delegation’s yesterday’s visit to Aleppo city, indicating that media outlets are no longer talking about Aleppo city after the liberation of its eastern districts.

“The European Union has been formed for humanitarian goals but it does not do that now,” Couso added, affirming that the delegation will hold a press conference after their return to Europe in order to give a full report about their visit to Syria.

“We have not seen any political change in European parliaments towards the crisis in Syria and the refugees issue. This proves that the European institutions are still contributing to destabilizing the region,” he stressed, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

Media war

The agency reported that the EU delegation discussed with the Committee of Arab and Foreign Affairs at the PA the importance of conveying the reality of events happening in Syria.

It quoted Head of the Committee of Arab and Foreign Affairs in the PA Botros Merjaneh as saying that the terror war on Syria is not only military war but it is also a media war that distorts reality of events in the country.

He also talked about reforms made by the Syrian government in different fields .

The European delegation, who is composed of 11 MPs from several countries in the European parliament, visited Aleppo city yesterday. 

‘Stupid’ EU stance

A third meeting was held today evening between the visiting EU delegation and Minister of Reconciliation Affairs Ali Haider, who said that most European countries adopted policies that are not independent since the beginning of crisis in Syria and they contributed to fueling the crisis through supporting terrorist organizations, which pose now a threat to EU peoples.

The minister also referred to the negative effects of the unilateral economic blockade imposed on the Syrian people, asserting that those who tried to isolate Syria isolated themselves and linked their political decision to the United states.

“Reconciliation project reflects Syrians’ culture to preserve their sovereignty,  unity and identity,” Haidar told the delegation, adding that fighting terrorism and carrying out local reconciliation deals represent the only peaceful way to launch the political process. “This bothered a lot of those who are putting the European countries’ policies and foiled their agendas.” He concluded.

The delegation was briefed on the mechanism of reconciliation and what has been done over the past four years in this regard.

After the meeting, Haider told journalists: ” The stupid European stance towards Syria has made European countries far away from the reality of events taking place in the country.”

Basma Qaddour