France will host an international meeting on Syria in January in Paris

This summit, the precise date of which has not been announced, follows a first meeting held on December 14 in Jordan. It should make it possible to “harmonize the messages” of the international community, according to the resigning Minister of Foreign Affairs.

American, European, Arab and Turkish ministers and officials, who held a meeting on December 14 in Aqaba (Jordan) on Syria, will meet in January in Paris to continue to “harmonize their messages”announced Wednesday, December 18, the resigning Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot. Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad on December 8, Westerners have emphasized the need for an inclusive political transition in Syria.

The meeting of December 14 made it possible to reiterate the principle of a transition “credible and inclusive (…) led by the Syrians, based on the principles of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.according to the words of the UN envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen.

“With our Arab partners, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union, we met on Saturday, December 14 in Aqaba, Jordan, to coordinate our collective and conditional support for a transition in Syriaunderlined Jean-Noël Barrot. “We set out in a declaration the guiding principles of our engagement in Syria”he added. “This group will be perpetuated, and we will host its second meeting in January in Paris”he announced without specifying the exact date.

While a team of four French diplomats went to Damascus on Tuesday, the resigning head of diplomacy also stressed that France was not prohibiting itself “no contact in the future”. “The main thing is not to know which interlocutor each person meets, but the convergence of messages passed to the de facto authorities. (…) This is why it was so important that France was represented in Aqaba so that the messages from the international community could be harmonized.”he insisted.