European Union nations want guarantees from Syria’s new leaders that they are preparing for a peaceful political future involving all minority groups, and where extremism, Russia and Iran have no place, top diplomats said on Monday.
Since Damascus fell on Dec. 8, and President Bashar Assad fled to Moscow, Syria’s transition has been surprisingly smooth. Few reports have surfaced of reprisals, revenge killings or sectarian violence. Most looting or destruction has been quickly contained.
But the new leadership has yet to lay out a clear vision of how Syria will be governed. The interim government was set up by former opposition forces led by the Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which the EU and U.S. consider to be a terrorist organization.
It is set to rule until March. Arab foreign ministers have called for U.N.-supervised elections based on a new constitution. To understand more, the EU is sending an envoy to Damascus for talks with those at least temporarily in charge.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc wants a “stable, peaceful and all-comprising government in place,” but that it will probably take weeks, if not months, for Syria’s new path to be clear.
“Syria faces an optimistic, positive, but rather uncertain future, and we have to make sure that this goes to the right direction,” she told reporters at a meeting of EU foreign ministers. “For us, it’s not only the words, but we want to see the deeds.”
Syria has been shattered by five decades of Assad family rule. Its economy has been destroyed, poverty is widespread, inflation and unemployment are high and corruption seeps through daily life. Millions of people have fled the country.
TWEET YOUR COMMENT