BRUSSELS: Eight European Union member states have jointly urged the bloc to “review and assess” its policy towards Syria in a letter addressed to the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell.
The letter was signed by the foreign ministers of Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
The communication suggests a reconsideration of the EU’s stance towards President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which has been under EU sanctions since 2011 due to its harsh crackdown on pro-democracy protests and atrocities committed during the Syrian conflict.
“Our objective is a more proactive, results-oriented, and operational Syria policy,” the letter stated, emphasizing that such an approach “would enhance our political leverage and the effectiveness of our humanitarian aid.”
According to Euractiv, the group of eight EU nations proposed establishing an EU-Syria envoy to re-engage with the Syrian government and other regional stakeholders.
“Acknowledging the bitter reality that the Assad regime, with the support of Iran and Russia, remains firmly in power, and the Syrian opposition is fragmented or in exile, the European Union can no longer afford to ignore this reality,” said Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
Aron Lund, a fellow at the Century International think tank, commented that the EU’s current policy on Syria was long outdated, shaped in 2016, and needed revision in light of the evolving Syrian conflict and EU dynamics.
However, Lund noted that the Assad regime was unlikely to regain favor in Europe after thirteen years of conflict.
Syria’s civil war has resulted in the deaths of over 500,000 people, primarily due to indiscriminate regime bombings of civilian areas.
Despite international condemnation, Assad’s regime has reclaimed most territory once held by rebel factions with critical support from Iran and Russia.
It also mentioned creating conditions for Syrian refugees in Europe to potentially return home. However, many Syrians fled the country due to the regime’s brutality and oppressive rule, with human rights groups cautioning against premature returns to an unsafe environment.
Julien Barnes-Dacey, MENA Programme Director at the European Council on Foreign Relations, criticized the EU for failing to extract concessions from Damascus while Syria continued to face deteriorating socioeconomic and humanitarian conditions.
UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pederson warned recently of the risk of Syria being drawn into regional conflict again, citing increased Israeli airstrikes amid fallout from Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Ramesh Rajasingham, the UN humanitarian office’s coordination director, described Syrians as facing their worst humanitarian crisis since the conflict began.
Pederson emphasized that the resolution of the conflict required Syrian parties to realize their legitimate aspirations, underlining the political nature of the conflict.
Currently, Europe hosts approximately one million Syrian refugees out of a total of 6.6 million displaced Syrians worldwide.
