BEIRUT: The Spanish ambassador to Lebanon said Monday it is the responsibility of all parties to preserve stability the country, as the security situation in Syria further deteriorates.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Madrid’s Ambassador Juan Carlos Gafo said Spain cannot accept an oppressive Syrian regime, four-months after the start of popular demonstrations across Syria.
“Spain is very clear in its position on Syria … it cannot accept a regime that systematically oppresses its own people,” said Gafo during an interview on the sidelines of a food safety and climate change conference in Beirut.
The Spanish ambassador expressed his country’s support for the Syrian people in their struggle for democracy. “The regime must adopt reform measures and provide more freedoms to the people,” Gafo added.
President Bashar Assad’s violent crackdown on demonstrators in cities throughout the country has resulted in the deaths of more than 1,300 people so far, according to rights groups, and has driven around 17,000 Syrians into neighboring Lebanon and Turkey.
As Assad’s regime sharpens its violent response to the demands for freedom and democratic change, the European Union is taking a more hard-line approach toward the regime by expanding its financial and travel sanctions against Damascus.
According to Gafo, the only way Assad’s regime can gain legitimacy is to steer Syria onto the path of democratization and political reform.
“The regime could only get our support if it takes the necessary measures to adopt reforms and advances on the path of more democratization and more freedoms,” Madrid’s ambassador noted.
Despite the wide-scale sanctions E.U. has imposed on the Syrian regime, European countries along with other world powers, including the U.S., have kept their diplomats in the Syrian capital of Damascus, fearing that withdrawing envoys would lead to more violence from the Syrian regime.
Commenting on Spain’s leadership in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon, Gafo said that his country will continue to respect its commitment to Lebanon and help maintain stability in the region.
“We’re not considering any decrease in the number of our troops here … that is very clear through our leadership of UNIFIL,” Gafo explained.
Spanish troops have been part of the UNIFIL mission since the end of Israel’s devastating 34-day war against Lebanon in July 2006. In 2009, Spain’s Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas was appointed Head of Mission and Force Commander of UNIFIL.