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Foreign Powers Reevaluate Ties with Damascus

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Syria’s new regime is prioritizing justice and the return of refugees as it engages with foreign nations.

An illustration of Alexandra Sharp, World Brief newsletter writer

Alexandra Sharp

By Alexandra Sharp, the World Brief writer at Foreign Policy.

An aerial view shows a Syrian man waving the independence-era Syrian flag in Damascus.

An aerial view shows a Syrian man waving the independence-era Syrian flag over the central Umayyad Square in Damascus on Dec. 11. Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty Images

Geopolitics

December 11, 2024, 7:00 PM View Comments ()

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the first actions of Syria’s transitional government, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol being investigated for insurrection, and Hungary’s efforts to mediate Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

Rebuilding Damascus

Syrian rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Jolani vowed on Wednesday to hunt down all those responsible for torturing or killing detainees under ousted President Bashar al-Assad. “We will pursue them in Syria, and we ask countries to hand over those who fled so we can achieve justice,” Jolani said.

Rebuilding Damascus

The insurgents’ push to address alleged human rights abuses under Assad has become a top priority for the new regime. Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir told Italian media on Tuesday that he aims to bring back millions of Syrian refugees who were forced to flee their homes during the country’s 13-year civil war, and rebel forces have reportedly freed thousands of prisoners held across Syria this week.

Since Assad’s overthrow on Sunday, Bashir has promised representative governance and religious tolerance. But funding to rebuild the country remains out of reach. “In the coffers, there are only Syrian pounds worth little or nothing,” Bashir told Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera. “We have no foreign currency, and as for loans and bonds, we are still collecting data. So yes, financially, we are very bad.”

Meanwhile, foreign nations are reconsidering their relations with Damascus now that the rebels—led by Jolani’s group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—are in charge. Many countries and blocs, including the United States as well as the European Union and United Nations, still formally designate HTS as a terrorist group. Syria also remains under sanctions imposed during the Assad regime. Some are now calling for both the terrorism designation and the sanctions to be lifted to help facilitate Syria’s transition to post-Assad rule.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said this week that “[i]t’s our duty to do everything to support different Syrian leaders in order to make sure that they come together; they are able to guarantee a smooth transition.” U.S. officials are reportedly debating whether to remove HTS’s terrorist designation, but experts don’t expect that to happen quickly.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday that Washington would “recognize and fully support” a future Syrian government that results from an inclusive, transparent process. He called for a “Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition” that meets international standards, respects the rights of minorities, facilitates the flow of humanitarian aid, ensures all chemical and biological weapons are secured and destroyed, and prevents terrorist groups from using Syria as a base for operations.

Two U.S. congressional representatives appealed to the White House on Tuesday to suspend aspects of the so-called Caesar sanctions that pertain to Syria’s reconstruction. The sanctions, which apply to Syrian businesses and any citizen dealing with Syria or with Russian and Iranian entities in the country, are up for a five-year renewal this month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also expressed interest in rebuilding relations with Syria on Tuesday. However, Netanyahu warned that he would not hesitate to attack Damascus if the new regime threatens Israel. Israeli forces have launched hundreds of airstrikes on Syria this week, and ground troops have pushed into a U.N.-controlled buffer zone in the country next to the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights to allegedly destroy chemical weapons stockpiles and long-range missiles. Netanyahu said Israel has no intention of interfering in Syria’s internal affairs.

British minister Pat McFadden said on Monday that London might reconsider its designation of HTS as a terrorist group.

Several European governments—including those of France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom—have announced that they are also suspending Syrian asylum applications following Assad’s ouster. Rights groups have been quick to condemn the asylum freezes. “At this time of turbulence and change, countries should avoid plunging Syrian refugees and people seeking asylum into situations of further uncertainty and precarity,” said Eve Geddie, the director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office, as she denounced anti-refugee policies in Europe.

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What We’re Following

Attempted office raid. Police tried to search South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s office on Wednesday to collect evidence for an ongoing investigation into whether he was attempting to incite insurrection by declaring martial law last week. But Yoon’s security forces stopped the officers from entering the presidential compound, and lawmakers remain divided over what data should be collected and handed over to investigators. The probe into possible insurrection charges is part of a criminal investigation that is separate from impeachment proceedings against Yoon.

An emergency task force of party leaders convened on Wednesday to urge Yoon to step down in February or March 2025; snap elections would occur within two months of his departure. An opposition-led effort to impeach Yoon failed on Saturday due to almost all members of the ruling People Power Party walking out of the vote. The majority of Yoon’s party instead wants the president to have an “orderly exit.”

In the interim, Yoon remains barred from leaving the country, as does his former defense minister, Kim Yong-hyun. On Wednesday, authorities said that prison guards stopped Kim from trying to kill himself while he was in detention over his role in the martial law order. He is currently in stable condition.

Cease-fire negotiations. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to discuss possible peace talks to end Moscow’s war against Ukraine. “We are taking every possible diplomatic step to argue in favour of a ceasefire and #peace talks,” Orban wrote on X following their hourlong conversation. The Kremlin reiterated past allegations that Kyiv is the one preventing a peaceful settlement in the region.

Orban’s phone call came just two days after the prime minister met with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in what some have argued was an effort to frame Budapest as the go-to leader for Trump in Europe. “No one should boost personal image at the expense of unity,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X regarding Orban’s talks with Putin.

Trump has also positioned himself to be a key mediator in the conflict. The incoming president has threatened to increase aid to Ukraine or withhold such aid entirely if either Moscow or Kyiv, respectively, refuse to come to the negotiating table. Trump also appears more lenient to some of Putin’s demands, including requiring Ukraine to give up some of its territory and withdraw its NATO membership bid.

Vucic pushes back. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic accused foreign intelligence services on Tuesday of trying to use anti-government protests to unseat him. Nationwide demonstrations began last month after a rail station roof in the city of Novi Sad caved in, killing 15 people. At the time, opposition figures alleged that rampant corruption within Vucic’s government resulted in the poor renovation work that led to the collapse. Protesters have since seized upon Assad’s ouster in Syria on Sunday as additional momentum to push Vucic from power.

In response, Vucic said he would not flee the country as Assad did. “I will fight for Serbia and serve only my Serbian people and all other citizens of Serbia. I will never serve foreigners, those who seek to defeat, humiliate, and destroy Serbia,” Vucic added. He has previously accused the West of financing the protests, which are largely led by university students. Serbia is seeking European Union membership but maintains close ties to anti-Western autocrats such as Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Odds and Ends

A man from New Zealand won Scrabble’s Spanish-language world championship last month—without speaking a lick of Spanish. This was not the first time that Nigel Richards, who some have called the greatest player of all time, has come first in a Scrabble competition that was not in his native tongue. In 2015, Richards won the French-language version sans parler Français. “I don’t think he’s ever read a book, apart from the dictionary,” his mother, Adrienne Fischer, joked to a New Zealand newspaper, adding that her son takes a mathematical approach to the game rather than a linguistic one.

Geopolitics

Alexandra Sharp is the World Brief writer at Foreign Policy. X: @AlexandraSSharp

Read More On Geopolitics |Syria |Syria Conflict |U.S. Economic Sanctions

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