Syria Today | Assad calls on EU to play bigger role in peace process

Assad calls on EU to play bigger role in peace process

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called on the European Union (EU) to play a larger role in the Middle East peace process on October 14, Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported. The comments came during a press conference with visiting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

“Europe should play along with the United States to consolidate the basis for a just and comprehensive peace in the region,” Assad said.

Spain takes over the rotating presidency of the EU at the start of 2010. Zapatero was accompanied by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos. The visit is the latest in a long list of high-level European visits to Syria this year.

“I carry a message of friendship to the Syrian people and a message of peace to the Middle East region,” Zapatero said on arrival in Syria.

Talks between the two leaders focused on strengthening economic and cultural ties between Madrid and Damascus, Syria’s relations with the EU and peace efforts in the Middle East. Zapatero also called for increased investment and trade between the two countries.

Earlier in the day, Zapatero also held talks with Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Naji Otri on Syrian-Spanish bilateral relations and signed several agreements in the field of education.

On the international front, Zapatero said Syria’s important and active presence in the region could not be ignored. In an interview with Al-Jazeera he said Spain’s upcoming EU presidency would give it a central role in realising peace in the Middle East, which would include calling on the international community to recognise a Palestinian state and activating the peace process enshrined in the Road Map.

Assad said the priorities for the EU and the wider international community should be easing the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, lifting the siege and stopping Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Territories.

Moratinos told reporters during a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Mu’allem that Spain would encourage Israel to engage in the Middle East peace process “effectively”, although he admitted that “the Mideast peace process is not an easy job”.

Zapatero’s visit to Syria was the first leg of a tour of the Middle East, during which he visited Lebanon, Israel and the Occupied Territories.