How should the EU react to the situation in Syria?

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EU foreign and security policy

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
BBC News articles on the Syrian conflict
Guardian articles on Syria

Laura, Pierre, Pamela & Marion :

On the 15th March 2011, an armed conflict began between the Syrian government and opponents to Bashar al-Assad’s dictatoral regime. These protesters want an end to Ba'ath party rule and the resignation of the President.

This conflict is a major problem, but should the European Union get involved in any way in the conflict and why? We think that the European Union should act to put an end to this civil war.

On a world scale, the European Union should act through its representative at the United Nations Security Council in order to convince the major powers to find consensus over this issue. UN measures must be taken as regards Syria. The combined weight of the EU plus the majority of the word’s nations would inevitably lead the Syrian Government to resign… However, we must not forget that Russia and China, being permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, have veto rights. Here are some of the reasons they refuse UN intervention in Syria:

• because the Russian government is a major provider in weapons for al-Assad’s army (this trade brings Russia much money);
• since 1971, Russia and Syria have been allies;
• the only Russian military base in the Mediterranean Sea is in Syria;
• Russia and China are virtual dictatorships and do not want the revolutionary wave of the Arab Spring to spread to their territory (governments there want to show that their authority cannot be overthrown by anybody, including of course their own people).

A UN resolution on Syria should include a compensation clause for Russia (compensation for loss of trade). Still, this would probably not be enough to make Russia change its mind; other measures need to be considered.

The EU should try to have greater influence impact on Syrian politicians by, for example, sending diplomats to negotiate or by convincing the United Nations that peace keepers to be sent there again.

The Union should ask for donations from the European population to support the humanitarian efforts of organizations like ECHO.

Furthermore, European representatives are not the only ones who are going to influence the final decision of the European Union. Through social networks such as Twitter or Facebook we, European citizens, can give media coverage and put pressure on European Union institutions in order to force them to act wisely and quickly…

Watch our video!

Charles, Gabriel, Blandine & Marie :

The Syrian Civil war, opposing Bashar al-Assad and armed rebel groups (the Syrian National Council and the Free Syrian Army), has caused at least 30,000 deaths since March 2011. Staying neutral would be against the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union, because of the massive killings either by government or by terrorist actions in Syria. The EU has the right and duty to act in world affairs and uses diplomacy to resolve conflicts and also peacekeeping missions to send observers and provide humanitarian aid to people displaced by fighting.

How can the EU react to the killing of so many innocent people in this conflict?

Up to this point, the EU has not risked taking the conflict to a higher level by sending armed forces to Syria. Its economic sanctions (for example, the freezing of assets of two Syrian companies supporting the dictatorship with a chemical weapons program) have not been efficient.  The UN calls for a cease-fire in March and May 2012 have also failed. We think that the EU should put pressure on the UN and promote the idea of sending an international peace-keeping force to Syria.

The rising violence is drawing inevitably the EU and other Western powers ever-closer to direct involvement in a bloody conflict. The Syrian National Council is asking for more robust support such as establishing safe havens for refugees protected by Western forces, arming and equipping the Free Syrian Army, and establishing a “no-fly” zone enforced by Western air power. Should the EU should respond favourably  to the FSA’s requests? Perhaps not, because Syria is “located at the epicentre of inter-Arab and Arab-Israeli politics”, meaning that if we get involved in the Syrian civil war, Arab States will also take part, and an escalation of the conflict will be inevitable.

Any armed intervention by the EU or by particular Member States of the EU in the Syrian conflict would not have UN approval since Russia and China have vetoed any intervention at the UN Security Council. Russia and China have close economic and military ties with the al-Assad regime, and as permanent members of the Security Council they have therefore vetoed three Western-backed resolutions aimed at isolating the al-Assad regime and will also veto the demand to send military forces to Syria. Russia is Bashar al-Assad’s only source of weapons; if we were to cut off that source, the civil war would inevitably come to an end and let negotiations commence. But the EU relies on Russia’s gas and energy, so it cannot clearly oppose itself to Russia. And Russia has the world’s second most powerful military force…

We come to the conclusion that the EU must keep its boycotts and arms embargo on Syria to weaken the country’s economy and army, but, more efficiently, the EU should, with other powers, put pressure on Russia to make it change its position. How about imposing economic sanctions on Russia?

Cyprien, Sarah, Viktoria, Alexane & Marine:

The crisis in Syria, opposing dictator Bashar al Assad to the people in revolt, is getting worse every day. Thousands of innocent people, including women and children, die every day fighting for freedom from oppression.

The European Union should react. The longer we wait, the more difficult it will be to find solutions to this catastrophic war. Europe is one of the biggest economic forces in the world and it should use its influence in order to intervene in this conflict which is slowly becoming worldwide. In fact, uprisings have already begun in Turkey (which is a country that Europe needs because of its young workforce). The EU has already tried to put a stop to the fighting by implementing sanctions but these have been inefficient.

The EU could send  more humanitarian help, especially for the youth because they are the generation that could change the political situation in Syria as soon as the war is over.

It would be a major step if all countries in the UN came to a common agreement on how they should deal with Syria. However, Russia and China are obstructing the process because of their economic interests. Therefore, it is important for the EU to try to negotiate with these countries in an efficient way so that the UN could be united and stop the war in Syria.

Finally, another method that could be used is to overthrow the dictator Bashar al Assad. This would be a quick way to end the crisis…

Once the civil war is over, it is important that the EU help the new country to set up a stable democracy because if the new leader is a religious extremist then Syria will be right back to where it started.


Leo, Justine, Noemie & Jonathan:

The sheer number of casualties in the Syrian conflict has made people from around the world meditate about a possible way to end as soon as possible this terrible event...

After reaching a dead-end at the United Nations meeting (due to Russian support of the Bashar al-Assad regime, and their ability to veto any proposition reached there), the European Union decided to take matters into their own hands and came up with a list of sanctions in response to the ever-increasing violence in Syria. However, this has been inefficient due to the fact that the Syrian Government still has support from Russia, and is as a result hardly affected by the European embargo.

Even though some politicians argue that, like most “Arab Spring” nations, Syria will not become more democratic but will end up being ruled by violent parties like the Muslim Brothers, we still have to find a way to put an end to all of these massacres…

How can the EU help the Syrian people? Firstly it could send more humanitarian aid there. Also, it should find a way to protect at least the children from being hurt by creating more refugee camps (in which they could even go to school). It would be a good idea too to help the Syrian opposition by giving more arms to the resistance fighters so that they could defend themselves better from El Assad’s army. The EU could also accelerate the negotiations by toughening the list of sanctions, or give El-Assad an ultimatum, threatening him with invasion if he doesn't comply with the EU's conditions… One of the most urgent things which should be considered by the EU is without doubt the reaching of an agreement with Russia with the aim of uniting opposition to the Syrian regime.

Evan, Julien, Jacobo, Valentine:

Today in Syria, thousands of people are being tortured and murdered. In March 2011, protests in Syria began in order to overthrow the dictatorial President of this country, Bashar al-Assad. Even though the protests have been going on for a long time, he remains in power because of Russian support for his the army.

The European Union has already taken a few measures against the al-Assad regime but they have not been efficient. The EU has its own security and foreign policies, all based on diplomacy,  diplomacy leading to peace-making... But, in order to stabilize and maintain peace, the European Union needs the resources to intervene such as soldiers or observers which need to be sent for disarmament operations, humanitarian tasks, or military advice. The EU should also be sending aid, to the injured and to try to protect the families and children. Helping the Syrian people overthrow their president would not only be good for the Syrians but also for us.

The disappearances and arbitrary detention of thousands of people are sufficient reason for us to get involved. However, if the EU were to get involved, it would also have to stop Russia from supplying weapons to al-Assad’s army…

Arthur, Alice, Blanche & Augustin:

The Syrian civil war began on 15th March 2011. On that day, demonstrations  were held by Syrian citizens, asking for the resignation of dictator Bashar al-Assad and the end of nearly five decades of Ba’ath Party rule.  These protests came in the wake of the Arab Spring movement. The government, refusing the rebels’ conditions, deployed the army to quell the uprising, ordering soldiers to open fire on rebels and citizens. This lead to a civil war between the government’s forces and the insurgents.

The conflict has now been going on for nearly two years, and, everyday, innocent Syrian citizens are killed.

The position of the EU towards this conflict is complicated, since it doesn’t have a lot of leeway to act. However, would staying neutral not be against the EU’s own Charter of Fundamental Rights? Especially as the Syrian National Council, the main protest organization, is asking for more consistent help from foreign countries.

The simple solution would be a military intervention by the UN. But Russia and China, permanent members of the UN Security Council, have put their veto. This is explained by the fact that China, and especially Russia, are commercial partners of Syria. The conflict is a good thing for Russia, whose trade with Syria also includes weapons!

The EU must try to convince or pressure Russia and China to stop using their veto. However, there is little chance of the EU succeeding in this...

Eventually, another solution would be to just let the insurgents overthrow the current government themselves  and help them by sending them more aid for the injured people. This would also help to avoid worsening the economic situation of Europe with another war.

The EU could even sell weapons with reduced profits margins to insurgents, which would help them and would allow Europe to earn some money (which we really need right now!). As one of the rebels, quoted in the Boston Herald has said:  “We don’t need food. We don’t need money. We need weapons.”

Here is a something to think about : if you see two people fighting inside a house, would you enter the house to intervene?