European countries urge EU to reevaluate relations with Syria amid refugee crisis; Germany opposes normalization

BRUSSELS — Italy, Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, and Slovakia have urged Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to reconsider the bloc’s relations with Syria due to the significant influx of refugees into EU countries.

However, the German government has rejected this proposal to normalize relations with the Syrian regime. A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry stated that the Syrian regime continues to commit human rights violations against its people. He emphasized that as long as these crimes persist, normalization of relations is not feasible.

The European Union severed ties with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the onset of the Syrian crisis in 2011. In 2017, the EU agreed not to normalize relations with the Syrian regime until Assad engaged in a political process to end the war in accordance with United Nations resolutions.