Secretary of the Syrian National Coalition’s political committee, Riad al-Hassan, expressed his support for the declaration issued by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the threat ‘Russia’s aggressive actions constitute to Euro-Atlantic security. The declaration was made during a NATO meeting in London on Wednesday.
Al-Hassan pointed out that Russia insisted on supporting the Assad regime whose actions constituted global terrorism at the highest levels. He said that the Assad regime is waging war against the Syrian people, brought the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps militias, the Iraqi Popular Mobilization militias, and other sectarian mercenaries to the country. The Assad regime’s actions created an enabling environment for the entry of groups designated terrorist by the United Nations and the European Union.
Al-Hassan added that Russia’s violent military intervention alongside the regime in Aleppo in 2015 caused the biggest wave of refugees in modern times towards Europe and Syria’s neighboring countries. Millions of Syrians were forced to leave their country to escape what the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres described as “hell on earth.”
Al-Hassan went on to say that the war, which was fueled by Russia, produced rogue regimes such as the Assad and Iranian regimes and those allied with them in Lebanon and Iraq. He cited the London Declaration describing these regimes as posing a challenge to “the rules-based international order.”
Al-Hassan also cited Russia’s unjustified use of the veto which helped these rogue regimes escape punishment and extended their life. He said that Moscow used its veto power 13 times to shield the Assad regime from condemnation for the genocide it committed using the internationally prohibited chemical weapons against the civilian population.
“The free world must uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as well as unite in the face of these aggressive actions in order to establish peace and restore stability in Syria and beyond.” (Source: Syrian National Coalition’s Media Department)