The European Union confirms that it will follow up the crimes of the Assad regime in all international forums
The European Union confirmed that it would follow up all the crimes committed by the Assad regime, in various international forums, at the same time welcoming the stripping of the Assad regime of its rights in the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
This came in a statement issued by the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell, commenting on the OPCW’s decision to strip Syria of its rights.
Borrell stressed that the organization’s decision is an important message from the international community, that the use of chemical weapons will not remain without sanctions, calling on the Assad regime to reveal its chemical weapons program, and to comply with the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Borrell stressed the commitment of the European Union and its member states to follow up the various crimes of the Assad regime, including the use of chemical weapons, in various international and local forums.
The US State Department spokesman, Ned Price, welcomed the decision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to suspend the “rights and privileges” of the Assad regime within the organization.
Price said that Washington estimates that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons at least 50 times since joining the organization in 2013, stressing that “this is the first step taken against Syria in this organization.”
Price welcomed this decision and the international community’s continuing commitment to implementing international standards against the use of chemical weapons, which pose a serious security threat to all, as he described it.
The member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons agreed on Wednesday to strip the Assad regime of its rights in the organization, after the report confirmed its responsibility in a number of chemical weapons attacks, so that this measure is the first of its kind to be taken as a punitive measure for the Assad regime.
And 87 countries voted to approve the memorandum, compared to 15 countries that voted against it, led by Syria, Russia, China and Iran, and 34 countries abstained of the 193 member states, 136 participated in the vote.
