Paper/ Syria: A Multifaceted and Challenging Crisis for EU Foreign and Security Policy by Agnès Levallois, Can Kasapoğlu, Özlem Tür and Galip Dalay

The difficulty of delivering humanitarian aid in Syria, that emerged after the devastating earthquakes on the border between Turkey and Syria, particularly resonates with the observations produced by this JOINT Report authored by Agnès Levallois (Fondation pour la recherche stratégique – FRS), Can Kasapoğlu, Özlem Tür (EDAM) & Galip Dalay (The German Marshall Fund of the United States – GMFUS).

The EU is the first aid donor in Syria, but various factors hinder the chance of making this economic role a real political leverage. Since the 2011 uprising, Syria has witnessed a deep state-level fragmentation, with opposition factions and the regime controlling different parts of the country.

Thus, the EU should avoid normalization with Assad and engage with local and external actors to mitigate the proxy war and to safeguard humanitarian corridors. It should also aim at a clear and unified policy between EU Member States to use sanctions and accountability mechanisms as leverage with the goal of a real political transition in Syria.