France's Hollande calls on Europe to unite on Syria crisis

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

French President Francois Hollande speaks during a press conference after a meeting with German counterpart Joachim Gauck (unseen) at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on September 3, 2013. AFP Photo

French President Francois Hollande called on Europe Tuesday to unite in response to the Syria crisis, ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the weekend.
 
"Europe must also unite on this issue. It will do so, each with its own responsibility. France will assume its own," Hollande said during a joint press conference with German President Joachim Gauck.
 
"When a chemical massacre takes place, when the world is informed of it, when the evidence is delivered, when the guilty parties are known, then there must be an answer," Hollande said.
 
"This answer is expected from the international community," he said.
 
France is pushing, along with the United States, for military strikes against the regime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in response to an alleged August 21 chemical weapons attack that Washington says killed more than 1,400 people.
 
"This crime cannot remain unpunished," Hollande said, adding that "global security is at stake" in the crisis.