Eight European Union countries are calling on the 27-nation bloc to reconsider its policy toward Syria and suggested engaging directly with the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.
In a letter to the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, the foreign ministers of Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, and Slovenia said their goal is a “more active, outcome- driven, and operational Syria policy.”
“This would allow us to increase our political leverage [and] the effectiveness of our humanitarian assistance,” the letter reads, according to Euractiv.
One of the suggestions made in the letter was to create an EU-Syrian envoy that would engage directly with the Assad government and other regional actors. The EU cut off relations with Assad back in 2011 and maintains sanctions on Syria, along with the US.