Aysu Bicer
17 December 2024•Update: 17 December 2024
LONDON
The EU plans to reopen its delegation in Syria, signaling a shift in its diplomatic approach to the war-torn country.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced this during a European Parliament session on Tuesday.
While the EU delegation in Damascus was never officially closed, there has been no accredited ambassador or active diplomatic presence since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict.
Kallas emphasized the EU’s intention to make the delegation “fully operational again” in the coming months.
"We want this delegation to be fully operational again," Kallas told lawmakers, highlighting the need to reestablish contact with Syria’s leadership and other groups within the country.
As part of this effort, Kallas revealed that the head of the EU delegation had been dispatched to Damascus on Monday.
Their mission includes engaging with Syria’s new leadership and exploring avenues to address the ongoing political and humanitarian challenges.
She also reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to supporting Syria’s recovery and political transition, hinting at possible adjustments to its sanctions regime while maintaining leverage over the process.
Kallas urged unified and decisive action to seize what she described as a “historic window of opportunity” for Syria’s future.
"We have a key interest in the success of the Syrian transition,” she stated. “We need to adopt our early recovery parameters to the new political reality with a view to eventual reconstruction, to start reflecting on a possible revision of our sanctions regime in order to support Syria's path to recovery while keeping our leverage."
Germany, the US, and Britain have already initiated contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8 after anti-regime groups seized control of the capital, Damascus. The takeover followed a swift offensive by HTS fighters, who captured key cities across the country in less than two weeks.
