{"id":414892,"date":"2024-12-18T10:56:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T09:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/12\/18\/von-der-leyen-futuro-siria-rischi\/"},"modified":"2024-12-18T13:15:01","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T12:15:01","slug":"von-der-leyen-syrias-future-fraught-with-risks-more-contact-with-hts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/12\/18\/von-der-leyen-syrias-future-fraught-with-risks-more-contact-with-hts\/","title":{"rendered":"Von der Leyen: “Syria’s future fraught with risks. More contact with HTS”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – “The future of Syria is full of promise but also fraught with risks.<\/strong>” The key passage of EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong>‘s speech in the European Parliament lies here: in the challenge\u00a0of an\u00a0ongoing change that the EU must know how to take responsibility\u00a0for.\u00a0“A credible and inclusive transition is a core European interest<\/span><\/span>,” she reiterates.\u00a0There is no longer Bashar al-Assad<\/a>, but the Syrian leader’s escape means nothing. “But while the old Syria is gone, the new one is not born yet.” Here lies the key. The EU must show that it is capable, not give in to enthusiasm, and “follow a step-by-step\u00a0approach<\/strong>.”\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Can the new Syrian ruling class be trusted? That is the question nagging von der Leyen, who has an answer: no. Not at this time, at least. “Some of the first steps taken by the new leadership are encouraging,” she admits. However, “The new leadership in Damascus has to prove that their deeds match their words,<\/strong>” she added.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks in the European Parliament chamber to discuss Syria [Strasbourg, December 18, 2024]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new Syria is already a puzzle. There are too many unknowns and too many questions<\/strong>. Von der Leyen shares them with the House of Parliament. “Will there be a political transition that respects national unity? Will all minorities be safe and protected?” Most importantly, “Will the fight against Daesh continue?” The latter question is far from\u00a0random, considering\u00a0the growing risk of attack and European concerns.<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
The terrorism issue clashes with\u00a0the realities of\u00a0realpolitik<\/em> the EU has to deal with now. The UN recognizes as a terrorist organization<\/a>\u00a0Hayat Tahrir al-Sham<\/b> (HTS),<\/b> the Islamist militia that toppled the Assad regime. The\u00a0EU aligns with UN decisions but is determined to chart a course for itself. “We will intensify our direct contacts with HTS and other factions<\/strong>,” von der Leyen admits and anticipates. This precedent is as delicate as it is dangerous because it opens the door to the recognition and legitimization of entities and people with whom so far\u00a0there has never been any willingness to talk, creating a double standard vis-\u00e0-vis other organizations considered terrorist, starting with Hamas and the Kurdish PKK.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What is certain is that net of risks, there is no avoiding trying to shore up the country. “We have to be there on the ground<\/strong>,” von der Leyen continued. “The coming weeks and months will be crucial to shape<\/strong>” post-Assad Syria.<\/span><\/span> “And Europe will play its role.” The EU’s credibility and the security of the Middle East depend on\u00a0this.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The EU Commission president calls for a step-by-step policy because the new leadership cannot be trusted. “Follow a step-by-step approach. It is essential to be present on the ground”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":494,"featured_media":414779,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[25747,30051,27337,25745,27992,30052,27073],"class_list":["post-414892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-commission-geopolitics-en","tag-middle-east-en","tag-safety-en","tag-siria-en","tag-stabilita-en","tag-terrorism-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414892"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":414927,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414892\/revisions\/414927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}