Vilnius, September 6, 2013

Speaking in Vilnius (Lithuania) at the European Interparliamentary meeting on Security and Defence, GUE/NGL MEP and foreign affairs policy coordinator Willy Meyer called proposed US/France intervention in Syria "a mortal blow to the UN Charter" and called for a "negotiated political solution to the Syrian conflict, without any foreign interference".

The Vilnius meeting brings together elected representatives from member states, the European Parliament, High Representative Catherine Ashton, and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"The attack announced by the U.S. and France against Syria is a blow to both the UN Charter and international law. Moreover, far from moving towards a solution, it will exacerbate the conflict with unpredictable consequences for the entire Middle East region," Meyer said during the meeting.

"We condemn the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian population regardless of the perpetrators of the crime," he said, demanding time for UN inspectors to conduct their mission and investigate reports that rebel forces were provided with chemical weapons by Saudi Arabia.
The GUE/NGL welcomes the inclusion of amendments presented by Meyer for the concluding text of the meeting that rejected action against Syria outside the mandate of the UN Charter.

At the meeting, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen defended an increase in military spending in the EU and claimed it was the Syrian regime that has used chemical weapons.

"The evidence is as dubious as it was when then US secretary of state Colin Powell attempted to convince the United Nations of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in February 2003," Meyer said. "It is not clear - not long ago, Carla Del Ponte, the UN Commissioner in Syria, said that reports indicated that the so-called rebels were using chemical weapons."

The MEP stressed the need, ahead of the European Council meeting in December which aims to review EU Security Policy, to work towards setting up "a new European framework based on the demilitarisation of security and international relations."

GUE/NGL Press:

David Lundy +32 470 85 05 09

Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20

Emily Macintosh +32 470 85 05 08
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European United Left/Nordic Green Left

European Parliamentary Group