Question 9904 — foreign policy

Summary

From the start of the Syrian conflict, the government informed the French public, and in particular businesses: - of the closure of our embassy and our consular representation in a context of repression initiated by the Syrian regime and armed conflict subsequently extended to the entire territory of Syria; - the need to repatriate all French nationals given the security risk involved; - sanctions adopted by the European Union, which it is up to each company to respect. The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs does not have, beyond the information it communicates to companies, the authority to order a company to pursue or not its activities in connection with a particular country, provided that these activities are not contrary to the law. As such, the choice made by the Lafarge company to maintain its activity on Syrian territory is its sole responsibility. The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs recalls that it was at the initiative of the French authorities, in the interests of transparency and respect for the presumption of innocence, that the Public Prosecutor was contacted in September 2016 so that a judicial investigation could be carried out into the possible violation of sanctions against the terrorist organizations Daesh and al-Qaeda. The French authorities are actively cooperating with the justice system as part of this investigation in order to shed light on the alleged facts. The elements are covered by the secrecy of the instruction, and it is important to ensure compliance. France's position vis-à-vis Daesh in Syria is unambiguous: it has constantly reaffirmed its determination to fight against this terrorist group and reiterated the need for strict compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions and international conventions and standards prohibiting any form of support for terrorism. French forces played their full role in the campaign against the territorial establishment of Daesh in Iraq and Syria and we remain vigilant in the face of attempts at a resurgence of this organization, as well as in the face of the presence of Al-Qaeda in the Syrian province of Idlib. In addition, France has made the fight against the financing of terrorism one of its priorities for its presidency of the G7. As such, she was recently at the initiative of the international conference against the financing of terrorism “No Money for Terror” which was held on April 25 and 26, 2018 in Paris. This initiative enabled the adoption by the 70 participating States and 20 international organizations of strong measures, particularly directed against the financing of Daesh. It will be extended by a similar meeting organized by Australia in November 2019.

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