Egypt Daily News – The European Union decided to open channels of communication with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, by sending a senior diplomat to meet with the current powers.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy official, said that she had instructed diplomats to prepare to meet with the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, but stressed that the Union needed to see concrete actions before taking any additional steps.
Kallas stressed that the body must prove its ability to manage a stable and peaceful state that protects all minorities, adding that the coming weeks will reveal whether things are moving in the right direction.
Kallas did not clarify whether the diplomat would meet with the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, Ahmed al-Shara, known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, or with the Prime Minister-designate Muhammad al-Bashir, or both.
However the Dutch Foreign Minister stressed that it is still too early to lift sanctions, stressing that any step towards tolerance must be conditional.
