Spain calls on “all parties” for a “peaceful political transition” in Syria after the fall of Al Assad

Eduardo González The Spanish Government has called on “all parties in Syria, in the region and in the international community” to allow “a peaceful and inclusive political transition” in the country, after the overthrow of the regime of Bashar al Assad at the hands of the insurgents. “We call on all parties in Syria, in the region and in the international community, so that the historical events that the country is experiencing lead to a peaceful and inclusive political transition, according to the terms of resolution 2254 of the United Nations Security Council, which guarantees the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country,” declared this Sunday the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement. “Through the Spanish Embassy in Damascus, we are in permanent contact with the Spanish community in the country to deal with any eventuality,” he added. For his part, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, told TVE that the information he receives from Syria is “calm” and that “the first priority is that very small colony” of nine Spaniards who reside in the country. “They are fine, only one has asked to leave the country,” said the minister, who specified that the Spanish community in Syria is made up of five Spanish citizens married to Syrian citizens and four aid workers, with whom Foreign Affairs maintains “permanent contact,” in addition to a hundred Syrian-Spaniards who have not expressed their desire to leave the country. According to Albares, Foreign Affairs has already prepared an “emergency plan” for those Spaniards who wish to leave the country. “As soon as the airport and the border are reopened, we will analyze the situation again,” he added. Albares also indicated that he remains “in close contact” with European partners and “Arab friends” in the region to address the situation that has arisen after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. “The situation does not indicate that there will be any kind of chaos, quite the contrary, the first steps of the rebels are to reassure the entire population, to indicate that the administration’s assets should not be destroyed and everything indicates that a part of the administration that has been working for Al-Assad is ready to work with the new government,” he declared. “Syria is a fundamental piece within this complex balance in the Middle East, where there is already too much war for it to also extend to Syria. We are going to analyze together with our European partners and also with our Arab friends in the region, what this situation is,” he continued. Finally, Albares stressed the importance of Syria remaining “peaceful and stable” and that it is the Syrian people who decide “who and how they want to be governed,” all within “the territorial integrity of the country.” "We must avoid the balkanization of different regions of Syria in the hands of different groups," he warned.

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