PRESS RELEASE
EU’s Syria ‘Plan B’ Won’t Work Without Belt and Road Initiative
Dec. 5, 2016 (EIRNS)—According to the Times of London, Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has put forward a "Plan B" for Syria, by which the Assad government would remain in power, and be offered financial aid in exchange for allowing rebel forces to remain in power in some regions, RT reported today.
Although few details are available, particularly in terms of the nature of the transition under discussion, it is known that Mogherini made this proposal two weeks ago, during a meeting with Syrian opposition leaders. Driving the discussion is the certainty that the Syrian Army will soon take full control of Aleppo, based on its military successes.
Nothing has been specified as to an amount of money the EU is willing to offer, but as Schiller Institute Helga Zepp-LaRouche pointed out today, only a plan to incorporate Syria into the New Silk Road and launch a Marshall Plan to rebuild it—involving Russia, China, and the United States—can possibly work. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s appointee for National Security advisor, has called for such a Marshall Plan for Syria.
RT notes that the Times report on the EU plan makes no mention of President Bashar al-Assad’s future, a shift from Western demands that any resolution of the conflict must include his ouster. Brussels reportedly is willing to have him remain in power, but with the proviso that there be a devolution of power to Syria’s provinces—political decentralization—which, according to the Times, would allow the so-called moderate rebel forces to be integrated into local security forces.
The Times report also states that the EU is willing to pay Damascus, if it will lead to a reduction in the continuous flood of Syrian refugees into the European Union, which, it argues, is contributing to electoral chaos and "destroying Europe’s political fabric."
