EU-Syrian Pact Won't Be Signed in 2008

The European-Syrian partnership agreement will not be signed this year, but political signals coming out of the European Union indicate that many members support the pact, the pro-government website Syria Steps reported on October 27.



The official newspaper Al-Thawra had reported on October19 that the government expected to sign the partnership agreement boosting economic and political ties with the EU before the end of this year. The agreement was stalled following the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri in 2005.



Rateb al-Shalah, who is part of Syria’s negotiating team, told the Syria Steps website that it would take several more months to iron out the deal because of “political barriers”. He did not elaborate on this, merely saying that Damascus was pressing EU countries to ratify the pact.



The website added that some countries that previously opposed the pact such as Italy, France and Germany were now backing it.



Syria Steps predicted that a European-Syrian summit would in Brussels. It said it had been told by European sources that even if the agreement was signed now, it would take at least a year before it was put into effect.



Deputy foreign minister Faisal Miqdad told the official newspaper Al-Tharwa on October 28 that Syria “would not rush into the agreement”, and if the pact did not meet the interests of both sides, it would be rejected. He added that Damascus would not be pressured on any of the positions it held.