Italy plans to send an ambassador to Damascus again after more than a decade despite the ongoing brutal civil war in Syria, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday.
Testifying before a parliamentary committee in Rome, Tajani justified the decision by saying the European Union “cannot give Moscow a monopoly” in Syria. Russia is seen as a key supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In recent years, Italy, like other EU countries, has conducted diplomatic affairs with Syria from its embassy in Lebanon. However, the Italian embassy in Damascus has never been formally closed.
Since 2011, Syria has been in the grip of a civil war that has killed more than 300,000 civilians. Despite being largely isolated by the West, Assad and his power apparatus now control about two-thirds of the country.
The Italian Foreign Minister went on to say that after 13 years the EU must adapt its Syria policy to the “development of the situation”.
He said his position on this issue is in line with that of his colleagues from Austria, Croatia, Greece, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Slovakia.
Italy is currently governed by a coalition of three right-wing parties.
