(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) PARIS, Feb 14 (KUNA) -- France said on Wednesday that the stalled Geneva peace process for Syria, under UN auspices, will be a top focus for the "informal" meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, on February 15-16, according to official statements.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is attending the talks that take place between Europe's top diplomats on a regular basis.
The forthcoming session is under the Bulgarian EU Presidency and the French Foreign Ministry underlined that on top of the agenda is the situation in Syria and the need to reinforce the Geneva peace process, which is being spear-headed by UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura.
"The ministers will reaffirm the central role of the Geneva process, propose ways to strengthen it and will reaffirm the EU's support for the efforts of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura," a statement in Paris said.
"Special attention will be given to the role of countries in the region in this process, to coordination between partner and like-minded countries (and) to support for the opposition and for EU humanitarian aid efforts," it added.
Parallel peace talks held under Russian, Iranian and Turkish auspices have been viewed by France as necessarily a complement to the UN process and Paris has called for the efforts ongoing in Astana and Sochi to reinforce Geneva and not to compete with it.
Meanwhile, France said Wednesday that it was analyzing data on alleged chemical weapons use by the Damascus regime in the conflict, despite a commitment by Syria in 2014 to relinquish such weapons and destroy or hand over its stockpiles.
French Foreign Ministry officials noted that there was still no conclusive proof of chemical use by the Syrian regime, despite some claims that this has happened several times.
Syria denies holding or using any chemical weapons and President Emmanuel Macron of France has warned of possible unilateral military strikes against parties using chemical weapons in violation of international treaties signed. (end) jk.sd
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