EU States Call for A Change of Policy on Syria

Facts

• Eight EU member states have urged the bloc to re-evaluate its policy toward Syria, suggesting direct engagement with Pres. Bashar al-Assad's government.^[1]
• In a letter to the EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell, foreign ministers from Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic requested 'a more active, outcome-driven, and operational Syria policy.'^[2]
• The EU suspended its relations with Syria in 2011. In 2017, the bloc implemented a strategy to facilitate a political transition in the country.^[3]
• Since 2011, the EU has sent more than €33B in humanitarian and development aid to 7.2M displaced people in Syria and over 5M refugees in the region. The eight countries want a new policy that will help repatriate refugees to Syria per UNHCR guidelines.^[4]
• They also suggest an EU-Syria envoy to re-engage with the Syrian regime and other regional actors.^[5]

Sources: ^[1]Ft, ^[2]www.euractiv.com, ^[3]Almayadeen, ^[4]Eunews and ^[5]The New Arab.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The New Arab. The 13-year-long conflict and EU sanctions have resulted in the deaths of 500K people, with millions seeking refuge in Europe and millions more being internally displaced. Assad remains in power, mainly due to the support of Iran and Russia, while the Syrian opposition is fragmented or in exile. The current EU policy is ineffective, and the bloc must reset it to bring a regime change.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Al Jazeera. Assad's regime cannot be recognized as legitimate due to its blatant human rights violations. The US has no intention of normalizing relations with Syria, and it actively urges others not to improve relations unless there's political progress under Resolution 2254, which asks Syria to hold free and fair elections and facilitate the safe return of refugees.

Predictions