EU Foreign affairs meet in Brussels to discuss the latest developments in Syria.

The EU, like other nations, have been so far cautious towards the new leadership in Syria out of the fact that HTS and its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolanhad have their roots in al-Qaeda and that the group is listed as a terror group by the EU.

EU Foreign Affairs Ministers will also talk about convening an EU-Israel Association Council.

 

The EU’s envoy to Syria will go to Damascus for talks with the new Syrian leadership, the fist such contact since the fall of the Assad regime.

”Our top diplomat in Syria will go to Damascus today. We’ll have the contacts there,” said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas told journalists as she was chairing Monday in Brussels her first Foreign Affairs Council since the former Estonian Prime Minister took her new position two weeks ago.

The decision to send the EU envoy to Damascus comes after the United States and Britain said they had made contact with the new authorities in Damascus, spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.

The EU, like other nations, have been so far cautious towards the new leadership in Syria out of the fact that HTS and its leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolanhad have their roots in al-Qaeda. The group is listed as a terror group by the EU.

Kallas said EU foreign ministers in Brussels would discuss “how we engage with the new leadership of Syria, and on what level we engage.”

According to reports, some EU member states are pushing to step up ties with Syria after al-Assad’s ouster, while others are more cautious.

“For us, it’s not only the words, but we want to see the deeds going to the right direction. So not only what they are saying, but also what they are doing,” said Kallas as she was questioned just before the Foreign Affairs Council.

“I think the coming weeks and months will show whether it goes to the right direction. And I think then we are also open to discuss next steps,” she added.

On Saturday, Kallas met in Aqaba, Jordan, with Arab Foreign Affairs Ministers as well as the Foreign Affairs of Turkey and the U.S. to discuss the situation in Syria.

‘’For the European Union, stability in the region is very important. Because our neighbour’s problems today, are our problems tomorrow. And therefore, I am very glad that we had this meeting together with the international actors as well as with the regional actors,’’ the EU foreign affairs chief said.

‘’Syria faces a hopeful but uncertain future. And that’s why we all agreed on principles that the new leadership of Syria should follow, and which are very important to all of us. That is stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, but also respect for minorities, no radicalization, the build-up of institutions, unity of government – that includes all the groups in Syria – and also accountability for the crimes committed,’’ Kallas said after the meeting in Jordan.

At Monday’s meeting in Brussels, the 27 EU Foreign Ministers Lastly, Ministers will also exchange views on how to support a solution to the Middle East crisis.

‘’The discussion will focus on how to take forward work with the parties and in the region to restart dialogue and to achieve a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza, as well as ultimately the two-state solution,’’ according to an EU background briefing by a high level EU opfficial.

Kaja Kallas is expected to underline the need to hold an Association Council with Israel and the first ever High-Level Dialogue with the Palestinian Authority ‘’as soon as possible.’’

Acording to the EU offcial, the EU and Israel have stil to agree on an agenda for such an Association Council -to be held in early 2025 – and the EU member statesd have to adopt a common position.