Europe calls for referral to the International Criminal Court on the Syrian regime

(BRUSSELS2) While the leader of the Syrian opposition was visiting them, the 27 once again condemned the situation in Syria and the massacres of civilians. A new diplomatic step, they called on the UN Security Council to refer the Assad case to the International Criminal Court.

A new proposal for a resolution at the UN?

For the European Union, if the situation continues, "the International Criminal Court should deal with the situation". France, Great Britain, the USA or even Germany, Morocco, Portugal (current non-permanent members) or Luxembourg (member from 2013) could well “at any moment» propose a new resolution before the United Nations Security Council calling on the ICC to take up the case of the Assad regime. "We recognize that those responsible for crimes against the public will be held to accountsaid High Representative Catherine Ashton after the Council of Ministers. The 27 also expressed concern about “the potential use and transfer of chemical weapons in Syria and remind the Syrian regime and all other actors that if used, those responsible will be held accountable».

Small decisive semantic step

The Ministers had invited Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, the leader of the Syrian opposition coalition, to dessert. A long interview, after which the European Union recognized the efforts of the coalition but still not the coalition itself as "the" legitimate representative of the Syrian people. A semantic step has however been taken, the EU accepted henceforth the coalition as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people » ; a formulation that is more determined than the formula found in November: “The EU considers them legitimate representatives of the aspirations of the Syrian people”.

"2013 will be the year of free Syria!"

The 27, however, ask the Coalition to continue to work on the open character of the future opposition front, and urged it to embark on this path alongside the UN Special Representative, Lakhdar Brahimi. “We took a step today by hosting Moaz al-Khatib. We will cross another one during the meeting in Marrakech next week declared Laurent Fabius, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, before declaring, a solemn nothing in a Gaullian tone, before leaving the building: “ 2013 will be the year of free Syria "...

(read and completed by NGV)