MESOP APPEAL : CLOSE DOWN EMBASSY – Syria says France, Germany blocking expat vote

AFP , Monday 12 May 2014 – The foreign ministry said Monday that France and Germany intend to prevent Syrians living in their countries from voting in Syria’s presidential election, expected to return President Bashar al-Assad to power.

Germany and France are “preventing Syrians living in their territory from voting”, the foreign ministry said. “France… is carrying out a hostile press campaign” against next month’s election, it said in a statement carried by state news agency SANA. “It has officially informed our embassy in Paris of its opposition to the holding of the vote on French territory, including the Syrian embassy.”

French foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal implicitly confirmed the decision. “The organisation of foreign elections on French soil is covered by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of April 24, 1963,” he told AFP. “As we are authorised by this convention, French authorities have the right to oppose the holding of this election anywhere on French territory.” He reiterated France’s demand for a “political solution” to conflict in Syria as well as a transition process and Assad’s departure from office. “Bashar al-Assad, who is responsible for the death of 150,000 people, cannot represent the future of the Syrian people,” Nadal said.