This was the second visit of French MPs to Syria, and like a year ago, the recent visit sparked vigorous debates in among French politicians and journalists. Taking into account France’s official stance towards Assad, the lawmakers were criticized for having contact with Damascus.
On the last day of the visit, Assad gave an interview to three French media outlets, including France Info and the official channel of the French Parliament.
In particular, the Syrian president said that the "truth is the main victim of the events in the Middle East."
In an interview with Sputnik French, Jean Lassale suggested that the French government is very unlikely to change the Syrian vector of its foreign policy before the presidential election.
"I don’t think that France will change its policy towards Syria before the election. [French President Francois] Hollande will not abandon the main principles of his term. France cannot abandon the Geneva format of Syrian talks and join the Astana negotiations," the lawmaker said.
Del Valle pointed out that one interview with the Syrian president is not a sign of political changes. Instead, his words are being used by politicians and journalists on certain purposes.
"I think that some media outlets like the fact that Bashar said good things about [US President-elect Donald] Trump and [French presidential candidate Francois] Fillon. Some use that to do a bad turn to those politicians. You know, if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin or Assad says good thing about a Western politician it is always not good for his reputation. So, I don’t think France is changing its stance. It’s rather media buzz aimed to harm Trump and Fillon," del Valle told Sputnik French.
"Their visit is important. If the Rights return to power in France they would try to form an alliance with Russia. In diplomatic terms, this would require rapprochement with Damascus," he pointed out.
"I think those lawmakers wanted to promote the stance which even Hollande took after terrorist attacks in France. He realized that Daesh is the most serious threat to France, and he changed his anti-Russian policy. I think this is what the lawmakers and Bashar Assad wanted to say," del Valle concluded.
