Damascus - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos in Damascus on Wednesday to discuss bilateral relations and regional peace prospects, media reports said. Al-Assad and Moratinos discussed the growing relationship between Syria and the European Union (EU) as well as Spain's efforts to revive the peace process in the region, the official SANA news agency reported.
"The two sides stressed that the current stage demands genuine political will to make decisions and guarantee their implementation," SANA reported.
Moratinos, who arrived in Syria from Cairo as part of a regional tour, told reporters after the meeting that talks dealt with Syria's pivotal role in achieving peace "which is now more necessary than ever before."
The Spanish minister, whose country takes over the EU presidency next January, invited al-Assad to attend the Union's second summit which will be held in Barcelona in June 2010.
During his Tuesday meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, Moratinos, expressed his country's support for signature of a partnership between Damascus and Brussels as soon as possible.
In Cairo, Moratinos, who is scheduled to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, said that Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero plans a Middle East trip during the autumn.
