BRUSSELS/ANKARA (Reuters) – The European Union will establish contacts with Syria’s new leadership and reopen its delegation in the country, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.
Von der Leyen also said the EU would increase humanitarian aid to Syria. But she warned of the risk of a resurgence by hardline Islamic State militants and said this must not be allowed to happen.
The EU delegation – which is like an embassy – in Syria was never officially closed, but there has not been an accredited ambassador in Damascus during the war in Syria.
“We want this delegation to be fully operational again,” Kallas said in European Parliament.
Kallas said she had asked the EU’s delegation head to go to Damascus on Monday to establish contact with the new leadership in Syria and various other groups.
Von der Leyen told reporters in Ankara after a visit to Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan that the EU must step its direct engagement with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist group which spearheaded the offensive which toppled Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.
“However, the lack of predictability demands utmost caution. The risk of a Daesh (Islamic State) resurgence, particularly in eastern Syria, is real. We cannot let this happen. And Turkey’s legitimate security concerns must be addressed,” she added.
Von der Leyen said the EU would increase humanitarian aid to Syria and would aim to help restore basic services like electricity, water and infrastructure.
Germany, the United States and Britain have earlier said they would establish contact with HTS.
(This story has been corrected to clarify what was not a part of Kallas’s speech in paragraph 3)
(Reporting by Bart Meijer and Charlotte Van Campenhout, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
