EU 'already engaging' with actors on the ground, new authorities, adds Antonio Costa
The EU will step up its diplomatic presence in post-Assad Syria, the president of the EU Council has said.
The EU is “already engaging with actors on the ground, the new authorities, and other regional actors,” and “will increase its diplomatic presence in (the capital) Damascus,” Antonio Costa told a Thursday news conference after an EU Council meeting in Brussels.
Stressing the bloc's objective to “preserve Syria's territorial integrity (and) ensure respect for human rights,” he said the EU is delivering much-needed humanitarian assistance inside Syria.”
At the same news conference, Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission president, said Europe “will do its part to support Syria at this critical juncture,” as it moves from 13 years of civil war to a new, and different, administration.
“Europe cares about the power going back to the people of Syria. Europe has a role to play,” she also said, reiterating that the EU Delegation in Damascus will also reopen.
The EU is already Syria's biggest donor and topped its “humanitarian aid to more than €160 million for this year alone,” she said. “And now we are looking … to continue to support the people in Syria, with a focus on early recovery and reconstruction.”
Bashar Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party regime, which had been in power since 1963.
