Europe has strategic chance in Syria: Politico
3 Min Read
Julien Barnes-Dacey argues that Europe faces a critical, time-sensitive opportunity to shape Syria's future by offering significant political and economic support to its new government.
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Syrians celebrate the fall of Bashar al-Assad in the town of Bar Elias, Lebanon, bordering Syria on December 8, 2024. (AP)
According to Julien Barnes-Dacey, Europe is moving at a slow pace following the ousting of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Barnes-Dacey writes in Politico that the end of Assad's administration provides Europe with a significant strategic opportunity, including the voluntary repatriation of many Syrian refugees. However, normal European hesitancy is setting in.
While some of the bloc's ambassadors are heading to Damascus, European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas has previously said that significant help for Syria will be contingent on ground improvements.
The author contends that Syria's fate is of critical strategic importance and that the bloc has a possibly limited chance to promote constructive change at a time when internal tensions are wreaking havoc on cohesive European foreign policies.
He believes that Europe needs to make a big and timely offer to Syria. It must put together a big package to encourage the country's new government to continue moving toward moderation, inclusion, and stability if it wishes to shape developments and provide Syria a haven for its exiles.
If a real transition is to be achieved, it will need extensive political engagement with the new government, swift sanctions relief to assist reduce immediate pressures that may derail any shift, and a major economic package.
The bloc should set out a strong political and economic relationship, one that involves considerable rebuilding help, as well as urging the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump to withdraw US sanctions if a genuinely inclusive new government is created.
According to Barnes-Dacey, Europe should unite behind the reality that a successful transition will not only benefit Syrians, but will also address the full range of its interests, including establishing democratic governance, ensuring sustainable conditions for significant Syrian refugee returns, and reducing Iranian and Russian influence in the country.
If the transition fails, none of these goals will be achieved, and the cost will be escalating violence. It will eliminate the possibility of refugee returns and keep Syria a hotspot for destabilizing outsider operations.
Furthermore, he notes that Europe may draw on Syrian civil society's extensive experience gained over 14 years of war, as well as the population's complete fatigue with combat. Both might play a significant role in reforming the country's administration and pressing armed factions to reach a power-sharing arrangement.
