Syria Support Movement solidarity with the Syrian people
from the News Desk, published on The Cradle, July 26, 2024
Rome, along with seven other EU nations, recently called on Brussels to play ‘a more active role’ in Syria
Italy became the first G7 nation to restore diplomatic ties with Syria on 26 July, appointing Stefano Ravagnan as their new ambassador and ending a 12-year diplomatic break.
Ravagnan, currently the foreign ministry’s special envoy for Syria, is expected to take up his post “shortly,” according to Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. He added that the decision was made “to turn a spotlight” on the war-ravaged country.
Rome recalled all staff from its embassy in Damascus in 2012 and suspended diplomatic activity in Syria as part of the western-backed war and isolation campaign of Damascus.
The decision follows a letter drafted by eight EU nations and delivered to the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, last week, asking Brussels to play a more active role in the country.
“Syrians continue to leave in large numbers, putting additional strain on neighboring countries, in a period when tension in the area is running high, risking new refugee waves,” the letter reads, according to Reuters.
Italy, Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, and Slovakia signed the letter.
“Borrell mandated the European External Action Service to study what can be done,” Tajani told Reuters on Friday, adding that naming a new ambassador was “in line with the letter we sent to Borrell … to turn the spotlight on Syria.”
Alongside Washington, the EU has imposed punitive economic sanctions on Syria.
“Under sanctions, Syria is facing great difficulties in rebuilding its key agriculture, industry, energy, education, and healthcare sectors, which were destroyed in a war in which Washington played a leading role,” The Cradle’s Syria correspondent wrote last year.
Six EU embassies are currently open in Damascus: Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Hungary.
