Resuming relations with Damascus is in the direct interest of Paris, particularly in terms of counterterrorism, so there is a possibility that French President Emmanuel Macron may ultimately change his stance on Syria as he has already done with regard to dialogue with Russia, a French member of the European Parliament, Thierry Mariani, told Sputnik in an interview after his visit to the Arab republic
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd September, 2019) Resuming relations with Damascus is in the direct interest of Paris, particularly in terms of counterterrorism, so there is a possibility that French President Emmanuel Macron may ultimately change his stance on Syria as he has already done with regard to dialogue with Russia, a French member of the European Parliament, Thierry Mariani, told Sputnik in an interview after his visit to the Arab republic.A group of European Parliament lawmakers visited Syria last week, where they met with President Bashar Assad and attended the Damascus International Fair. The French lawmakers traveled to Syria on their own initiative, rather than acted on behalf of the European legislature as a whole. For Mariani, it was his seventh visit to Syria and sixth meeting with Assad.
ASSAD OPEN TO DIALOGUE WITH THE WEST
According to Mariani, Assad told the delegation that Damascus was ready to resume dialogue with the West provided that the latter recognized his government as the only legitimate authority.
"Our meeting with president al-Assad lasted for almost two hours. The message was first 'we are ready to resume relations with France; it's not us who broke them, France did. France has its role in the middle East under condition that it takes its place back. If it doesn't take it back quickly, others will.' And there are EU states that had never broken diplomatic relations with Syria, notably the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria ... So the message was 'we are ready to resume relations with France, but France needs to recognize there is a legitimate authority in Syria which is the Syrian government,'" Mariani said.
The situation in terrorist-held Idlib was also among the topics raised during the meeting with the Syrian president, who informed the lawmakers that his government was determined to regain control over the country's entire territory.
"If they [militants] refuse to leave, these zones will be conquered [back by the government forces]," Assad said, as quoted by Mariani.
The Syrian leader also insisted that all foreign fighters must leave and described Europe's stance on the issue as "strange."
"On one hand they [EU nations] do not want to take back their militants because they are recognized as dangerous people. On the other hand they don't want us to push them out of our territory. Whether they are dangerous, or they are not. One needs to be coherent and takes its own responsibilities," Mariani added, quoting Assad.
WEST MUST FACE THE OBVIOUS: ASSAD WON THE WAR WITH LARGE POPULAR SUPPORT
According to Mariani, France and the rest of Europe should be highly interested in restoring relations with Syria for cooperation on counterterrorism, as a priority and finally recognize the Assad government.
"There are two ways: either we continue having no relations at all, or we resume relations. And today it's certain that it's in French interest to resume relations firstly in fighting terrorism, and then comes the evident: we have the government, which won this civil war because above all it had the support of the Syrian people. And we can even hardly talk about 'civil' war, because a large part of the militants are foreigners, been trained and armed abroad," he argued.
The lawmaker reiterated that one cannot win an eight-year war without the support of the local population and expressed hope that the French leadership would alter its stance on Syria. As an example of foreign policy U-turns, Mariani referred to Macron admitting, after his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the G7 summit in France, that the policy of alienating Russia from Europe was a big strategic mistake and calling for the reconsideration of relations with Moscow.
"In politics we can never get desperate. Some months ago Macron explained that no relations are possible with Russia. Now he explained that we need to change politics completely, reintegrate Russia, resume relations with Russia. Macron is intelligent, he can as well change his stance on Syria," Mariani said.
ASTANA PROCESS REMAINS THE ONLY PRODUCTIVE FORMAT
During the talks with the visiting delegation, Assad also shared with them his assessment of the two main formats for the Syrian conflict settlement.
"We talked about Geneva process and Astana process ... The president has said that the only process that brought concrete results was that of Astana; [he said that] in Geneva people had discussions but people present in Geneva weren't often representative," Mariani pointed out.
Assad, in particular, noted that some of those participating in the Geneva talks had actually left Syria more than 10 years ago. The Astana format, under the aegis of Russia and other guarantor nations, in contrast seeks to produce "progress for everybody," he said, according to the French lawmaker.
"We continue participating in Geneva process to show our good will, but it is certain that we trust the Astana process much more," Assad concluded, as quoted by Mariani.
REBUILDING OF DAMASCUS UNDERWAY, SENTIMENT THAT WAR IS OVER
Speaking about general atmosphere in Damascus, Mariani noted that it had "changed completely."
"Now people clearly head toward reconstruction. There is no more fighting, the suburbs are completely secure ... When you talk to people, to officials there is an understanding that the war is won, even though it will probably last for many months in zones like Idlib. But now people are thinking about reconstruction, what they will do in the future, which was not the case before," he added.
Syria has been engulfed in an armed conflict since 2011, with the government forces fighting numerous terrorist organizations and armed opposition groups. The Syrian government regained control over most of the territories that were seized by terrorists in late 2017, however counterterrorism operations still continue in a number of areas, particularly in the country's north.
