Jerome Bonnafont, the Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations and current President of the UN Security Council, speaking during a press conference on April 3, 2025. Photo: screengrab/UN
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations and current President of the UN Security Council emphasized to Rudaw the need for Syria’s new government to respect inclusivity and diversity during the country’s political transition. Jerome Bonnafont further urged Damascus to “free itself” of terrorism and maintain peaceful relations with its neighbors.
“It is clear that in order for Syria to see a definitive return to peace and in order for it to build itself as a new Syria, it must respect its own diversity, it must be inclusive, and it must free itself of the scourge of terrorism and live in peace with its neighbors,” Bonnafont told Rudaw during a press conference on Tuesday.
The French diplomat’s comments come after Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed a 23-member cabinet on Saturday, including four members from minority groups.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, on Thursday expressed support for the formation of Syria’s new cabinet. “We welcome the unveiling of a new and expanded cabinet in Syria over the weekend,” he stated.
Syria’s leadership faced additional scrutiny in early March following deadly violence in the Alawite-majority coastal areas of western Syria, which resulted in around 1,500 deaths, mostly Alawite civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The deaths were largely attributed to government or government-affiliated forces.
The violence had erupted after loyalists of ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched attacks on security forces affiliated with the new Syrian leadership.
Bonnafort remarked on Tuesday that the UNSC “stated its views very clearly, given the violence, and we demanded that the Syrian authorities act as is expected of them - namely, that they respect the civilian population and respect minorities.” He also reiterated the council's commitment to supporting Syria’s transitional government in fulfilling its promises.
In early December, a coalition of opposition groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), headed by Sharaa, toppled the regime of Syrian dictator Assad. Sharaa was appointed as Syria’s interim president in late January and pledged to form an “inclusive transitional government” committed to safeguarding the rights of Syria’s ethnic and religious groups.
A French diplomatic source told Rudaw on Thursday that the “new government must now put into practice” the commitments it made and “meet the expectations and needs of the Syrian people.”
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