Top EU, NATO officials endorse Trump strike on Syria regime

Two top EU officials and NATO’s chief offered endorsement on Friday of US President Donald Trump’s missile strikes on a Syrian airbase.

The sharp escalation of Washington’s military engagement in the Syrian war came after a chemical attack – which the West and independent experts say was carried out by Damascus – killed dozens of people in an area populated by civilians but held by opposition groups seeking to oust President Bashar Al-Assad.

Read More: Russia denies launching gas attack on Syria’s Idlib

“US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. [The] EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria,” Donald Tusk, the chairman of EU leaders, said on Twitter.

US strikes show needed resolve against barbaric chemical attacks. EU will work with the US to end brutality in Syria.

— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) April 7, 2017

The head of the bloc’s executive European Commission said he “understood” efforts to deter any more chemical attacks.

“The US has informed the EU that these strikes were limited and seek to deter further chemical weapons atrocities,” Jean-Claude Juncker said in a statement. “The repeated use of such weapons must be answered.”

There is a clear distinction between air strikes on military targets and the use of chemical weapons against civilians.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that the Assad regime “bears full responsibility” for the US airstrikes against the Shayrat airbase near the west-central Syrian city of Homs.

“The Syrian regime bears the full responsibility for this development,” Stoltenberg said in a statement.

“Any use of chemical weapons is unacceptable, cannot go unanswered, and those responsible must be held accountable,” said Stoltenberg, who was informed by the US defence minister that strikes would go ahead.

#NATO #SecGen @jensstoltenberg on #Syria https://t.co/M0e2iqQL7C pic.twitter.com/aMUoNe2UN2

— NATO (@NATO) April 7, 2017

The European Union supports the Syrian opposition and some moderate factions negotiating in UN-mediated talks with representatives of the Damascus regime, which in turn has the political and military backing of Russia and Iran.

The talks have long been stalled and the war, which is in its seventh year, has killed more than 400,000 people, displaced millions inside Syria and set off a wave of refugees seeking shelter in neighbouring countries as well as the EU.

But the bloc’s role in international peace efforts has been largely marginal as it lacks influence on the ground, where Russia’s military intervention has given Al-Assad the upper hand.

The bloc is the largest aid donor in Syria, and has threatened it will not pay for reconstruction of the country if Al-Assad and his allies take full control by wiping out the opposition.

The EU says a “credible political transition” must start first with the aim of giving the opposition and Syria’s various ethnic and religious groups political representation.

France and Britain have led calls for Al-Assad to go but some other EU states, including the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and Italy, have been more dovish.