EU: Syrian elections 'parody of democracy'

EU Foreign Affairs Ministers said on Monday that the planned Syrian elections would be a “parody of democracy” if carried out only in areas under the regime’s control.

After meeting in Luxembourg, the foreign ministers issued a statement saying that: “Any elections, presidential or other…conducted in the midst of conflict, only in regime-controlled areas and with millions of Syrians displaced from their homes, would be a parody of democracy, have no credibility whatsoever, and undermine efforts to reach a political solution.”

Meanwhile, the EU officials also condemned “the regime’s decision to enlist the military support of foreign groups,” including the military wing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Iranian Al-Quds Force, in addition to the “grave abuses committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and other terrorist groups with links to Al-Qaeda, such as the Al-Nusra Front”.

The statement criticised the regime’s attempt to circumvent sanctions and strongly condemned its use of explosive barrels, one of the harshest weapons used by the regime.

“The EU is outraged by the continued barrel bombings of civilian areas by the regime and its use of starvation sieges as a tactic of war,” the statement said.