Call for review of EU’s Syria refugee strategy

Eight European Union member-states, including Greece, have launched a diplomatic initiative to establish informal communication channels between the EU and Bashar al-Assad's Syrian administration.

They are essentially calling for a revision of the EU approach and its "red line," which is summarized by the fact that "peace cannot be achieved with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad," as decided by the European Council in April 2017. Since then, the strategy has been revised several times, but it remains guided by three "nos" and fully aligned with US policy: no to normalizing Damascus, no to lifting sanctions, and no to rebuilding Syria unless there is "significant progress" in the political process, as outlined in UN Resolution 2254.

Eight foreign ministers, of Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia, sent two documents - a...