The European Union will send a high-ranking representative to Damascus on Monday to meet with the leaders of the new Syrian government after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, announced EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. Speaking in Brussels ahead of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting, Kallas stated, “Our high representative for Syria will travel to Damascus today.”
This comes as the United States confirmed on Saturday that it had established “direct contact” with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTC), the Islamist group leading the coalition that has seized power in Syria.
Kallas emphasized the need to discuss the EU’s engagement with Syria’s new leadership. “We must first determine the level of our involvement with the new Syrian authorities, and then what steps we are prepared to take to establish relations,” she explained. “It’s not just about words, but actions moving in the right direction,” she added.
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On December 8, the rebel coalition entered Damascus and declared the overthrow of Assad’s regime after a swift offensive that captured large parts of the country within 11 days. Abandoned by his Russian and Iranian allies, Assad fled to Moscow.
HTC, a former Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, claims to have broken ties with jihadism but remains designated as a terrorist group by several Western nations, including the United States.
While many countries welcomed Assad’s downfall, they expressed caution, waiting to see how the Sunni Muslim-led authorities will treat the nation’s ethnic and religious minorities.
This article is originally published on lorientlejour.com
