ROME, September 29 (Itar-Tass) - Syria’s government is theoretically ready to take part in the international conference on Syria, Geneva-2, but its criteria must be clearly specified, Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview with Italy’s Rai News 24 television channel on Sunday.
When asked whether he was planning to attend the Geneva-2 conference personally, the Syrian president said, “That depends on the framework of the Geneva meeting. So far, that conference is not clear: what kind of conference, who's going to attend, what the criteria are for this conference. So, we have to be ready as government, but we cannot decide who's going to head the delegation until we have, let's say, the framework, the clear framework and the criteria.”
He voiced skepticism about the role of the European Union in the preparations for this conference. “We have to discuss the relation between the European role and the American,” he said. “Is Europe independent from the American policies today? Now, our reality today is that most of the European countries adopted the American, let's say, practice in dealing with different countries since George Bush came to his position more than ten years ago. When they have a problem or disagreement with any other country, they cut off all kinds of relations.”