Foreign Policy Chief: EU Sending Envoy to Talk to Syria's New Leaders
European Union Foreign Policy Head Kaja Kallas stated on Monday that the bloc's envoy to Syria was heading to Damascus to engage with the Arab country's new leadership as Western powers increased engagement following the ouster of Bashar Al-Assad.
"Our top diplomat in Syria will go to Damascus today. We'll have the contacts there," Kallas told journalists ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.On Sunday, the EU’s top diplomat said the bloc will not lift sanctions on Syria before its new rulers ensure minorities are not persecuted and women’s rights are protected within a unified government that disavows religious extremism.An EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, which had Syria on the agenda, would not discuss expanding financial support to the country beyond that already provided by the EU through United Nations agencies, the EU’s new foreign policy chief, she added.“One of the questions is whether we are able to, in the future, look at the adaptation of the sanctions regime. But this clearly is not the question of today, but rather in the future where we have seen that the steps go in the right direction,” Kallas told Reuters in an interview.
While the EU has in place a tough sanctions regime against Syria, the armed group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham has also been under sanctions for years, complicating matters for the international community.The EU was already the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to Syria, Kallas said, adding, “We need to discuss what more can we do. But as I say, it can’t come as a blank cheque."“Syria faces a hopeful but uncertain future,” stated Kallas, who is making her first visit to the Middle East in her new post. Syria’s new interim leaders had made “positive signals” but these were not enough, she said.“What everybody is looking at is, of course, the treatment of women and girls also, which shows the society and how it goes, how the institutions are built up, so that there is a government that takes on board everybody,” she continued.
The Syrian government has been under strict sanctions by the United States, EU and others for years.Last week, militants seized control of Damascus following a swift advance in several regions of Syria.Following Al-Assad’s removal, a transitional government installed by the rebels has insisted the rights of all Syrians will be protected, as will the rule of law. Fighters in Syria who toppled Al-Assad have appointed Mohammed Al-Bashir as the country’s caretaker prime minister.According to the HTS, the current transitional government is set to rule until March 2025.
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