A disgraceful veto

The fact that Russia and China joined forces in the UN Security Council to veto a European draft resolution condemning the blood-soaked regime of Bashar al-Assad is a terrible development for the Syrians, who are fighting for their dignity. It is also bad news for the collective of pro-democracy movements in North Africa and the Middle East. Almost 3,000 civilians have been killed in Syria by the dictatorship's armed forces.

The lifeline thrown to Damascus by Russia and China is not a result of discrepancies over the wording of the draft resolution ? something that was not likely to happen, as it was already a watered-down text in which the word "sanctions" did not even figure. On the contrary, the veto illustrates a well-defined political approach on the part of the two powers, defended with ridiculous arguments such as that which holds that the European draft undermined the potential for "a peaceful solution to the crisis" (Moscow) or constituted an unjustifiable "interference in Syria's internal affairs" (Beijing). The fact that countries as important as Brazil and India endorsed international inaction with their abstentions only makes matters worse.

There is a mixture of bitterness and geopolitics behind the double veto. On the one hand, Moscow and Beijing were making the Security Council pay for the approval of military intervention in Libya last March. Both governments abstained on that occasion, but later condemned NATO's military support for one of the two sides as excessive ? something that proved crucial in the unseating of the Gaddafi regime.

National interests also played a key part. If Libya was a marginal player ? despite its oil reserves ? with no leadership role in the Muslim or Arab communities, this is by no means the case with Al-Assad's regime. Syria is the key regional power with regard to Lebanon; it is an ally of Iran; and Damascus is increasingly influential in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. All these factors hold great relevance for the global role that Beijing wishes to play, but are even more important for Moscow.

For the Kremlin, the Al-Assad dynasty represents a historic alliance, the only one it has in that part of the world and, therefore, its last chance to keep a foothold in the Middle East. This is why Russia continues to ply the Syrian dictatorship with arms.

Notwithstanding the fact that it was entirely predictable, the crude "no" from Russia and China constitutes a serious setback for the West, as well as crushing the hopes of stopping the atrocities being committed in Syria. The Security Council vote opens a disturbing phase of international drift on what is a crucial stage for the Middle East and North Africa.