EU's Kaja Kallas warns against 'leaving vacuum' in Syria

Foreign affairs chief says bloc has sent diplomat to Damascus, as members insist they will lift sanctions only if conditions are met

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. AP

The EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas on Monday said she had sent a senior EU diplomat to Damascus to establish contact with rebel groups that took control of the Syrian capital just over a week ago, toppling the Assad regime after more than five decades.

"The aim is to be in contact with the country's new authorities," Ms Kallas said at a media conference after a meeting of the EU's 27 foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, during which they co-ordinated on how to engage with the new leadership in Damascus.

The EU's charge d'affaires to Syria, Michael Ohnmacht, travelled to Damascus as other countries and organisations – including the US, the UK, Turkey, Qatar and the UN – rush to make overtures to the new interim government. Mr Ohnmacht is based in Beirut.

A UK delegation led by Stephen Hickey, director of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Middle East and North Africa directorate and Ann Snow, special envoy for Syria, met Ahmad Al Shara, the leader of the group that led the overthrow of the Assad regime, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS).

HTS governed north-west Syria, an area outside Damascus control since 2015. A UN Security Council terror listing in 2014 was down to its links with Al Qaeda, from which it broke off two years later.

The EU, along with Arab countries, Turkey and the US, wants to see an "inclusive government" that takes into account "minorities and women's rights", Ms Kallas said, two days after attending an international meeting in Jordan about the situation in Syria. "Extremism, Russia and Iran also should not have a place in Syria’s future."

Asked by The National to clarify whether minorities' rights meant government representation or simply the right to exercise one's civil rights, Ms Kallas said: "The leadership is only from one region and that's why it doesn't really represent the whole of Syrian people."

There must be no revenge, no persecution of minorities, and no civil war between various groups, Ms Kallas said.

Hayat Tahrir has sought to ease fears by saying it will protect religious and ethnic minorities in Syria. There have been no reports of those groups suffering at the hands of Syria's new rulers.

The EU is waiting to see "positive steps" and not just words from HTS, Ms Kallas said. Only then will the bloc consider whether it will lift sanctions against it and the Syrian state, which were adopted after president Bashar Al Assad's repression of peaceful protests in 2011.

"The question I put forward today for the foreign ministers – not to decide today, but to start work on – is whether we are ready to adopt our sanctions policy when we see positive steps; not words, but actual steps and deeds from the new leadership of Syria," Ms Kallas said.

Earlier in the day, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp said that it was too early to lift sanctions against HTS. “We really would like to condition that on an inclusive political transition. Inclusive means also including the rights of minority groups, such as Christian and Kurdish groups, and there are many others,” Mr Veldkamp said.

“I think it’s also important to look at conditionality regarding the Russian military bases in Syria. We want the Russians out.” The Kremlin said on Monday that no final decisions had yet been made on the fate of Russia's military bases in Syria, and that it was in contact with those in charge of the country.

Some EU foreign ministers said they feared an Afghanistan scenario, in which Syria is ruled by extremists, or a Libya scenario, with continuing civil war and state fragmentation.

"What everybody wants is to avoid the mistakes with Libya and Afghanistan, the similar things where there was a vacuum left and therefore we know the trouble with those countries," Ms Kallas said. "When I say that Syria has a hopeful but uncertain future … we need to see that these steps go to the right direction. Because everybody wants stability in Syria."

Some EU countries, such as Italy, have already made contact with HTS. Member of Syria's new interim cabinet held meetings with Arab ambassadors on Tuesday, with Italy the only western country present, according to Italian news agency Ansa. In July, Italy appointed an ambassador to Damascus.

Ministers in Brussels highlighted the need for to enter discussions with HTS on the basis of conditionality. “This is a period that involves a certain number of risks: a risk of fragmentation, of destabilisation of Syria, and an Islamist risk as well,” said France's Jean-Noel Barrot.

He said that the EU should only lift sanctions if HTS implements certain conditions. This includes “a political transition that allows all minorities in Syria to be represented, respect for human rights, respect for women in Syria, the fight against terrorism and extremism”, Mr Barrot said.

Meanwhile, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg warned against laying out benchmarks with HTS that may ruin negotiations. He called for dialogue to better understand how rebel groups operate and a way forward for a “better and brighter future for the Syrian people”.

“If there are developments in the right direction, we can consider and signal that we are lifting sanctions and taking a step in this direction,” Mr Schallenberg said. “I would warn against saying now that if a, b, c, d, e are not met, then there will be no dialogue. I think that would be the wrong approach in Syria.”