EU to keep up support for terrorists in Syria: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Dmitry Babich, radio host of Voice of Russia in Moscow, about Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Ja’afari’s criticism of double-standard policies practiced by some countries, which support terrorist groups.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Preventing several armed groups from being put on the terror list, while at the same time claiming to fight terrorism, isn’t that blatant double standards on part of Europe ?

Babich: I think it is not just double standards, it is an outright crime and this crime has been continuing for several years now. Just today the European Union published a decision to extend for one more year sanctions against Syria as a country, against the Syrian government.

So it is quite clear on whose side the European Union is if on the one hand its members refuse to include Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam in the list of terrorist organizations and on the other hand that same European Union imposes sanctions on the enemies of Ahrar al-Sham, on the Syrian government, including individual people.

Unfortunately this situation is not new. We all remember how back in 2011-2012 when the first terrible explosions were [conducted] by terrorists in Damascus, the Western press just reported about explosions not calling them terrorist acts even though it was clear even from the handwriting of these explosions that they were made by al-Qaeda members, by the same people who actually had been killing American and European soldiers before that in Iraq, so that does not prevent the leaders of the United States and of the European Union, that does not prevent them from supporting these same terrorists in Syria right now. 

Press TV: But of course you mentioned the EU recently renewing its sanctions on Syria, just how much would this stall the political process in the country, the peace talks going on?

Babich: I think the situation is absurd. On the one hand the European Union says that it is concerned by the problem of refugees. It strikes a deal with Turkey on mutual exchanges of various refugees. On the other hand the EU is imposing sanctions crippling the Syrian economy. So how can you on the one hand talk about the need to stop the flow of refugees and on the other hand you try to impoverish the country that refugees are coming from?

I think it is quite clear that the EU is acting not in the interest of its member states but in the interest of global business and global bureaucracy. It was the global bureaucracy headed by the United States and a few aggressive people in the European Commission; it was this global bureaucracy that actually stirred or helped to stir the so-called revolution in Syria.

So the EU continues supporting this so-called revolution, in fact a mounting insurgency supported by radical Sunni Islamists from outside, it continues to support it by acting against the legitimate Syrian government.  

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