EU leaders meeting at a summit in Brussels on Friday called for an end to the military offensive by the Syrian regime and its allies in the Syrian region of Idleb, in northwestern Syria. "The new military offensive by the Syrian regime and its allies in Idleb, which is causing enormous human suffering, is unacceptable," they said in a joint statement.
"The EU calls on all actors to immediately end hostilities and urges all parties to the conflict to allow direct and unhindered humanitarian access to all those in need," they added. EU leaders also demanded "a lasting ceasefire" and "guarantees for the protection of civilians" . They also requested that the International Criminal Court be seized of the situation in Syria so that those responsible for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law "are held to account" .
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"Today we cannot meet as if nothing was happening a few thousand kilometers from us," pleaded French President Emmanuel Macron when he arrived in Brussels. "One of the worst humanitarian dramas is happening" in the Idleb region, he said. Idleb is the last major rebel and jihadist stronghold in Syria, where nearly a million people have fled a regime offensive supported by Russian aviation. "I want to condemn in the strongest possible terms the military attacks which have been carried out for several weeks by the Bashar al-Assad regime against the civilian populations of Idleb," said the French head of state.
"There are Daesh warriors (Islamic State group, Editor's note), combatants, terrorists: we must fight them, and we are, as part of the coalition, in this fight. But it is also the civilian populations, the humanitarians, medical centers which are attacked ” , he had maintained. "I ask the permanent members of the Security Council to assume their responsibilities. Nothing can justify non-compliance with international humanitarian law and the sacrifice of civilian populations, ” he insisted.
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About 900,000 people, the vast majority of them women and children, have fled since the beginning of December the offensive led by the Assad regime and Moscow in the greater Idleb region and its surroundings, the UN reported. Never has Syria, at war since 2011, experienced such an exodus over such a short period of time. The Damascus offensive has sparked an open crisis with Turkey, which is supporting certain rebel groups in the Idleb region.