On Monday 16 December, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, announced that she had tasked the head of European diplomacy in Syria, who is currently based in Beirut, to travel to Damascus to “to make the contacts with the new government and people there”.
“Syria faces an optimistic, positive, but rather uncertain future. We have to make sure that this goes in the right direction”, she added after the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Aqaba with neighbouring countries, Arab countries and the United States. According to Ms Kallas, we must not make the mistake, that has perhaps been made in the past, of leaving a vacuum. “We have to be there. If we are the ones contributing to the reconstruction, we must be sitting at the table with those discussing the future”, she added.
On their arrival at the Council, several ministers said they were in favour of contacts with the new Syrian authorities, but were cautious, stating that they would judge the new government on its actions and not on its words.
“There is a risk (...) of further unrest in Syria. The time has come to start a dialogue with those who currently hold power”, stressed Denmark’s Lars Løkke Rasmussen, arguing that the EU should get involved now, specifically by appointing an EU Special Envoy.
“Our first objective is to establish a line of dialogue with the Syrian leaders. We have our demands. We want an inclusive government, a peaceful transition and to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity”, added his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg.
Consideration of possible measures. At the end of the Council, Ms Kallas said that she had asked the ministers about the measures that could be taken in favour of Syria, and not to take an immediate decision, but to start work on adapting EU policy if Syrian decisions went in the right direction. “We have to start work now. That takes time. The plan must be ready when we see the measures, so that we can take positive action”, she explained.
According to draft conclusions from the European Council on 19 December obtained by Agence Europe (https://aeur.eu/f/et9 ), the leaders should invite the European Commission and the High Representative to draw up options for measures to support Syria with all positive efforts.
“The EU has a number of levers at its disposal – financial aid for reconstruction, the eventual lifting of sanctions – but in order to activate them, a number of conditions will have to be met: a political transition that allows all Syria’s minorities to be represented, respect for human rights, respect for women in Syria, and the fight against terrorism and extremism”, explained France’s Jean-Noël Barrot.
In the opinion of Mr Schallenberg, if the HTS group moves in the “right direction”, the Europeans will consider lifting the sanctions and economic measures put in place in recent years under the el-Assad regime. “I think it will be a sensitive dialogue, where we would say: please do this, and if you do, we will offer you this, but there is no blank cheque to be had in advance”, he explained, while warning against now saying “that if points a, b, c, d and e are not respected, there will be no dialogue”.
However, his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, felt that the red lines needed to be explained: “These are very initial contacts. Most of all, they are contacts who can convey clear red lines. What is needed is that Syria’s future is peaceful and that what is currently a military movement, can evolve into a political movement that must be inclusive, and that must scrupulously respect ethnic and religious minorities”. In his opinion, Syria must also maintain its territorial integrity, so that there is no territory in the hands of various armed groups and there is no foreign military interference.
Dutchman Caspar Veldkamp said that “it is too early to lift these sanctions against HTS. We would really like to make this conditional upon an inclusive political transition. ‘Inclusive’ also means including the rights of minority groups”.
Russian bases. Several ministers also noted the presence of Russian military bases in Syria.
“Extremism, Russia and Iran should have no place in Syria”, Ms Kallas stressed to the media, noting that this was a security issue for the EU.
“We want the Russians to withdraw”, added Mr Veldkamp. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)