Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Syria

In wake of Brussels attacks, Europe demands negotiated Settlement of Syrian Civil War, Now

contributors 03/24/2016

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

By EurActiv with AFP

The EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini met with Syria’s regime and opposition… (23 March) to underscore the urgency of a political solution in the country, especially in the wake of the Brussels attacks.

image

Staffan de Mistura and Federica Mogherini in Geneva on 23 March[European Commission]

Mogherini came to Geneva, where peace talks are under way, following a request from United Nations peace talks mediator Staffan de Mistura, making an EU call to both sides that the flagging negotiations move forward.

“It is important not only for the Syrians, but for the Europeans that this process starts, works and delivers,” Mogherini told journalists.

She added that Tuesday’s (22 March) bombings in Brussels, claimed by the so-called Islamic State group, had put renewed focus on global efforts to combat the jihadists.

“If we want to tackle this threat, we need… to accelerate and consolidate our common work to put an end to the war in Syria, and concentrate our forces on (IS),” she said.

The regime’s lead negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari described his talks with Mogherini as “the first direct meeting with (a) high representative of the European Union… since the crisis began.”

The EU official stressed that the Jaafari meeting did not imply a change in Europe’s stance towards President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Asked if the EU still insisted on Assad’s departure as part of any peace deal, Mogherini said, “the European Union sticks to the common position it has… on the need for a political transition in Damascus.

“I think I’m clear enough,” she added. “There is no change in policy.”

Mogherini also met with the main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), which is supported by the EU.

The HNC has demanded that Assad leave power before any transitional government can formed.

Damascus has ruled out any discussion of Assad’s fate and described his departure as a “red line” for the talks.

De Mistura is due to hold another day of talks today before a scheduled pause, with negotiations due to resume next month.

Via EurActiv with AFP

Filed Under: Syria

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Removing Syria Sanctions is a Win for the People, Whatever Trump's Motives
  • Even as it Strikes Deals with Trump, the Gulf Embraces Chinese Tech Giants
  • Pope Leo XIV’s Link to Haiti is Part of a broader American Story of Race, Citizenship and Migration
  • Can we Even Remember it? How America was Disappeared before our Eyes
  • As Trump urges End to Gaza Fighting, Half a Million Face Starvation and Israel bombs more Hospitals

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved