PARIS (Reuters) – France’s political approach to the Syrian government will not change, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday, adding that aid in response to the earthquake would go through non-governmental organisations and the United Nations mechanism.
“Our political approach is not changing and contrary to Bashar al-Assad we are working in favour of the Syrian population,” Deputy foreign ministry spokesman Francois Delmas told reporters in a briefing.
“Only a political process defined by United Nations Security Council 2254 can lead to an exit of the crisis.”
Assad is seeking political advantage from an earthquake that has devastated large parts of Syria and Turkey, pressing for foreign aid to be delivered through his territory as he aims to chip away at his international isolation, analysts say.
Amid an outpouring of sympathy for the Syrians hit by the earthquake, Damascus has seized the moment to reiterate its long-standing demand for aid to be coordinated with his government, shunned by the West since Syria’s war began in 2011.
France cut off diplomatic ties with Damascus that year and backed opposition groups for years.
While President Emmanuel Macron has flirted with the idea of nurturing some contacts with the Damascus regime since coming to power in 2017, that re-engagement has never taken place amid a certain amount of reluctance within parts of the diplomatic corps and French political establishment.
The official messaging remains that there has to be a proper political transition for Paris to change its stance, but the rapprochement between some Arab states, Turkey and Damascus in recent months has also put the issue back on the table.
“Our aid for Syria will go through the United Nations mechanism and NGOs that directly benefit populations,” Delmas said.
He said Paris had made available emergency aid of 12 million euros for the local population covering all regions, including government-held areas.
(Reporting by John Irish, Writing Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Toby Chopra and Hugh Lawson)