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Brussels – Syria’s new leadership is working hard to lure back the world.
Several countries have resumed diplomatic relations with the country after the regime’s fall. The EU says it is ready to reopen its mission in Damascus. The EU office has been managed from Beirut, Amman, and Brussels since 2012.
“This is a very important step, to reopen the delegation in Syria,” said the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in the European Parliament on Tuesday. “We cannot leave a vacuum in Syria. The EU must be on site.”
The development in Syria was one of the main topics when the EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on Monday. In parallel, the head of the EU’s Syria delegation traveled from Beirut to Damascus to meet representatives of the country’s new leadership.
“For us, it’s not just about words, we want to see action. The coming weeks and months will show if it goes in the right direction,” Kallas said then.
She emphasized that the Syrians themselves must lead the “process” – and that Russia and Iran should have no role in the country’s future.
One of the most pressing issues is how to deal with the sanctions against Syria – even though they are largely targeted at the former Assad regime. At the same time, the Islamist militia HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) is included in the EU and UN sanctions and terrorism lists.
“It’s a listing that the EU also follows and thereby also Sweden. It’s a factor we need to consider when we now discuss how to proceed,” said Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard.
(December 17)
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