EU cautious on Syria, policy “must be agreed with countries in the region.” First contacts with new leadership

Brussels – Faced with the embryo of Syria to come, the EU chooses caution. Squeezed between two imperatives, on the one hand “to avoid a new Libya or Afghanistan” and on the other to tie support for Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to a set of non-negotiable principles, the newly appointed EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, sends the others ahead. “It is important to convey the same messages with the countries in the region,” she said. For now, contacts between Brussels and the new leadership remain at the “lowest level”: the EU head of delegation to Lebanon has travelled to Damascus and is “having some meetings.”

At the first EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting chaired by the former Estonian premier, Kallas briefed ministers of the 27 on the meeting over the weekend in Jordan with Arab countries, Turkey, the United States, and the UN special envoy to Syria, Geir Pederson. “There are basic principles that everyone agreed on: integrity and sovereignty of Syria, but also inclusiveness of government, taking into account, in particular, minorities and women’s rights. This process must be Syrian-led and reflect the Syrian people in all their diversity,” Kallas explained at the press conference. The elephant in the room, EU sources admit, is Erdogan’s Turkey, which is obliged to play a leading role in the region but has never hidden its expansionist aims over a slice of Syrian territory.

At the EU level, several countries added another condition in the discussion with the High Representative: for the EU to support Syria, HTS must get rid of Russian influence in the country. One point made clear by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp: if Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham wants to see the EU sanctions regime against the Syrian regime lifted, it will have to close the gates of all Russian military bases in the country.

After stating that “extremism, Russia and Iran must have no place in the future Syria,” the European diplomacy chief added that the EU will “raise the issue with the new leadership” in Damascus. “It was also discussed at the table with Arab leaders,” Kallas pointed out, “it is a concern for them as well. The long-standing sanctions imposed by Brussels on Syria affect different sectors of the economy from which the Assad regime was profiting. Sectors whose prosperity is key to triggering the rebirth of a country devastated by fourteen years of civil war.

Kallas put the issue on the table. The EU will have to “be ready to adapt the sanctions policy when we see significant steps by Syria,” the High Representative said. The time is not yet ripe because although at this early stage of the transition, HTS, which is on the UN list of terrorist organizations, “is saying the right things, not everyone is convinced that they will do the right things.”

At least for now, the EU will continue to do what it has done best since 2011, mobilizing over 35 billion euros in humanitarian and civil society assistance to Syria. Indeed, Brussels’ restrictive measures provide a wide range of humanitarian exceptions and do not prevent the export of food, medicine or medical equipment and do not affect the Syrian health system. “We have launched an airlift for 100 tons of humanitarian aid,” Kallas recalled, also announcing that the EU will organize “the ninth international conference on Syria,” which allows for annual pledges of financial assistance and continued dialogue with Syrian civil society.