Austria Calls for a Reorientation of EU Policy Towards Syria

PeopleOther ♦ Published: July 23, 2024; 11:26 ♦ (Vindobona)

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg is calling for a fundamental reorientation of EU policy towards Syria and is receiving support from seven of his EU colleagues from Italy, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, and Slovakia.

In a joint letter presented at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, the eight foreign ministers call for a new European initiative to create the conditions for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees. The main focus here is on rapprochement with the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Schallenberg emphasizes that the previous EU Syria policy, which was established in…