Media reports: EU countries call for reviewing their ties with Syria

WORLD, July 24 (YPA) – Eight European Union countries have urged the EU to review its ties with Syria in light of the increasing number of refugees from the country, the German news agency “DPA” reported.

According to a letter seen by the agency, addressed to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, ” Syrians continue to leave in large numbers, putting additional strain on neighboring countries, in a period when tension in the area is running high, risking new refugee waves.”

The group of countries, which includes Italy, Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, and Slovakia, has called for a “realistic, proactive, and effective” approach towards Syria given the recent developments in the region.

The countries called for the appointment of a special envoy to enhance diplomatic relations with “all Syrian parties” and for a review of the sanctions imposed on Syria to ensure that they only target government officials and not the private sector.

The EU severed ties with Syria under the government of President Bashar Assad in 2011 after the escalation of violence during the civil war.

In 2017, the EU agreed that no normalization with the Syrian regime would take place until Assad participated in a political process to end the war in line with United Nations resolutions.

@E.Y.M