Statement on the presidential elections in Syria

Brussels, 04 June 2014

140604/03

STATEMENT

on the presidential elections in Syria

"The election on 3 June cannot be considered as a genuinely democratic vote. A flawed

electoral law imposed identification requirements that deprived most Syrians living in areas

under opposition control of the ability to cast their vote. The law also prevented exiled

opposition candidates from standing against President Assad, and blocked access to

alternative sources of campaign information.

Former UN and Arab League special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi criticised the holding of such an

election in a country in the midst of a civil war, and urged Assad to refrain from seeking reelection as it would jeopardise the political process that had started with Geneva I.

The regime has rejected the Geneva Communique as the basis for political transition and has

continued with military operations, leading to more than 150,000 deaths, 6.5 million

internally displaced persons and 2.5 million refugees. Any elections in Syria should only take

place within the framework of a genuine political process agreed by the international

community. The EU thus considers that these elections are illegitimate and undermine the

political efforts to find a solution to this horrific conflict.

We call on the regime to re-engage in genuine political negotiations that will produce

conditions allowing for a real expression of the will of the Syrian people."

_________________

FOR FURTHER DETAILS:

Michael Mann +32 498 999 780 - +32 2 584 9780- [email protected] @EUHighRepSpox

Maja Kocijancic +32 498 984 425 - +32 2 298 65 70 - [email protected] @AshtonSpox_Maja

Sebastien Brabant +32 460 75 09 98 - [email protected]

Nabila Massrali +32 460 75 41 75 – [email protected]

Follow us on Twitter @eu_eeas

www.facebook.com/EuropeanExternalActionService

www.eeas.europa.eu

بيان من الدائرة الأوروبية للشؤون الخارجية حول الانتخابات الرئاسية في سورية، يؤكد أنها لا يمكن اعتبارها انتخابات ديمقراطية حقيقية بسبب قانون انتخابي معيب حرم ملايين السوريين من التصويت.