EU commissioner: EU-Syrian partnership agreement to be approved soon
Xinhua, China
EU commissioner: EU-Syrian partnership agreement to be approved soon
16 February 2009
DAMASCUS (Xinhua) — Visiting European Union (EU) Commissioner for External Affairs and Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner said here Monday that a long-delayed partnership agreement between the EU and Syria would be approved soon.
After meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Ferrero-Waldner said the document has been referred to the EU council of foreign ministers for endorsement, which was expected to be adopted soon.
The commissioner hailed the positive developments in Syria’s policy towards neighboring countries, notably the establishment of diplomatic relations with Lebanon and its indirect peace talks with Israel.
She expressed the hope that the talks between Syria and Israel, suspended following an Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip, would be resumed at an early date.
Ferrero-Waldner said the positive developments are conducive to the cooperation between Syria and the EU and to enhancing the ongoing economic reforms in Syria, adding that the partnership pact would lay the groundwork for these efforts.
She hailed Syria’s "essential role" in the region through hosting a huge number of Iraqi refugees despite the regional challenges, stressing its role in forming a Palestinian national unity government which is key to a permanent and comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflicts.
Earlier on Monday, Ferrero-Waldner held talks with Assad in which the two sides discussed bilateral cooperation between Syria and the EU in all spheres as well as the developments in the region, particularly in the Gaza Strip following the Israeli offensive.
Assad underlined the importance of the European role in helping the Middle East countries find solutions to the problems they face, according to the official SANA news agency.
Syria and the EU initiated in December an updated version of the partnership agreement, four years after a first deal in Brussels which the EU member states refused to sign for political reasons.
The two sides initialed the partnership agreement in 2004, but EU member states refused to make it final after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, which was blamed on Damascus. Syria denied any involvement.
Syria is the only country that did not sign an association agreement with the EU under the Barcelona process, which started in 1995 to foster dialogue between EU member states and countries on the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean.
