Report: Fringe European states warming ties with Syria despite general EU policy
A new report says some European countries are warming their ties with Syria after President Bashar al-Assad won the May 2021 presidential election.
The Financial Times said Cyprus is moving into a new embassy in Damascus, and Serbia is set to send an ambassador to Syria.
The British newspaper said while such “small steps” are unlikely to be followed by EU’s juggernauts France and Germany any time soon, they “make clear the challenge the bloc will face as the situation in Syria normalizes over time”.
Laure Foucher, a senior analyst at Crisis Group who focuses on Europe , West Asia and North Africa region said such moves by fringe states are “weakening the EU position”.
Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed terrorism since March 2011. The Syrian government says the Israeli regime and its Western and regional allies have been aiding the Takfiri terrorist groups that were wreaking havoc in the Arab country.
The Czech Republic was the only EU member country not to withdraw from Syria after the eruption of the conflict.
EU's policy stops ambassadors submitting credentials to the Damascus government.
However, some EU member countries currently want direct channels with Damascus as the Syrian government forces have already managed to undo the terrorist gains across the country and bring back almost all of Syrian soil under government control.
Athens last year sent a new chargé d’affaires to Damascus.
“Greece is interested in being present in a country where developments affect our national interests [such] as the migration crisis,” said Nikolaos Protonotarios.
Some 5.6 million Syrians have been forced to flee abroad as refugees, mostly to the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, since the eruption of the foreign-backed militancy in Syria about 10 years ago.
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