President of the Syrian Coalition Anas Abdah reiterated that political transition in Syria should be at the core of the upcoming round of Geneva talks scheduled for next week.
Abdah’s remarks came during bilateral meetings with European and UN officials on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday and Saturday. Abdah met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Saturday and with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and the UN special envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura on Friday.
In his meeting with Ayrault, Abdah stressed that the Syrian opposition wants to engage in political negotiations that lead to a genuine political transition. He pointed out that the Assad regime and its allies are seeking to undermine the Geneva talks and render them irrelevant through their continued beaches of the truce and the escalation of bombardment on the rebel-held areas.
Abdah thanked France for its support for the Syrian revolution, especially at the UN Security Council and for its calls for holding the Assad regime officials to account for their involvement in war crimes in Syria.
Abdah urged continued support for the Syrian opposition’s delegation to the upcoming round of Geneva talks in his meeting with Mogherini on Friday. He stressed the need to prevent the Assad regime and its allies from disrupting the political process. Abdah praised the European Union’s position during a meeting of the Friends of Syria held in the German city of Bonn on Saturday and its support for the process of political transition in Syria.
Abdah assured the EU foreign policy chief that the Syrian opposition’s delegation to the next round of Geneva talks will be unified, inclusive and representative of rebel and political opposition groups, including the Cairo and Moscow groups. He reiterated the Coalition’s commitment to supporting the UN efforts to enforce its resolutions on Syria in order to achieve the political transition.
For her part, Mogherini reiterated the EU support for the Syrian opposition at the political level in the upcoming round of Geneva talks as well as for the Syrian people and refugees on the humanitarian level.
During his meeting with de Mistura on Friday, Abdah stressed that the next round of Geneva talks should focus on bringing about a political transition in Syria in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions 2118 and 2254. He called on the UN to show a firm stance about attempts by the Assad regime and its allies to torpedo the talks and pursue a military solution in Syria. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
