European Commission rejects ties with new Syrian authorities spokesman says
Spokesman for the European Commission (EC) Anouar El Anouni does not maintain relations with the Syrian opposition that has seized power in the country.
"EC considers representatives of the Syrian opposition to be terrorists. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, involved in the power takeover, is listed by the EU as a terrorist organisation," he said, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.
This designation is binding for all EU member states. The spokesman reminded that such decisions can only be revised with unanimous agreement among the member states, and that this would require an evaluation of their actions, rather than their words. He also emphasised that it is premature to speculate on any further steps at this stage.
On November 27, armed opposition groups launched a large-scale offensive against Syrian army positions in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces. By the evening of December 7, they had captured several major cities (Aleppo, Hama, Daraa, and Homs), and on December 8, they entered Damascus, with Syrian government forces withdrawing from the city. Syrian government leader Muhammad Ghazi al-Jalali expressed readiness for a peaceful transfer of power in the country. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Bashar al-Assad stepped down as president of Syria and left the country, giving instructions for a peaceful handover of power.
By Naila Huseynova