Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not really affect anything, says Nikita Mendkovich, head of the Eurasian Analytical Club . He stated this on November 15 to a Regnum correspondent .
Earlier, a court in Paris issued an arrest warrant for Assad, who is accused of using chemical weapons in 2013.
“This is due to the sharp weakening of Europe’s position in the Middle East and Africa, which France is trying to win back through some demonstrative steps, ” Mendkovich suggested. “ As we understand, in reality this will not affect anything. Relations between Europe and Syria after the liberation of the latter from militants are already at a fairly low level. Therefore, an arrest warrant for Assad will not fundamentally change anything. This is just an excuse for another campaign against Arab regimes unfriendly to France.”
In other words, as Mendkovich emphasized, France is trying to indicate its symbolic presence in the region, because there is simply no strength and opportunity for a real one.
How familiar.
The expert said that it is unlikely that France will be able to take active actions in the Middle East or Africa in the near future.
“After the inglorious flight from Niger, France will most likely take a very long time to regroup and look for ways to resume the struggle for influence in the world,” he said.
However, he believes that anti-Syrian forces will try to use this document to disrupt international visits and contacts of the official Syrian leadership.
“However, after Syria returns to the Arab League, I think these attempts will be like grain to an elephant. This arrest warrant means that France has no other means left to influence the politics of the region,” concluded Mendkovich.
In turn, orientalist Mikhail Balbus noted that such actions by the French authorities would make sense during the hot phase of the civil war in Syria, when provocations with the use of chemical weapons occurred.
“The timing is extremely unfortunate,” Balbus said. “ There will be no practical consequences [for Assad and Damascus] due to Syria’s recent return to the Arab League.”
Earlier , Regnum reported that, according to available data, France had issued four warrants: also against the brother of the Syrian leader, the commander of the Syrian Republican Guard, Maher Assad , and two generals. All defendants are charged with crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes.
The gas attack occurred in August 2013 in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta. US intelligence stated that government forces were allegedly behind the attack; Damascus categorically rejected the accusations. In September 2023, American journalist Seymour Hersh published a Pentagon intelligence document stating that in 2013, not only the Assad government had access to sarin in Syria, but also the terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra (banned in the Russian Federation).
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