Italy plans to again send an ambassador to Damascus after more than a decade, despite the brutal ongoing civil war in Syria, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday.
Tajani, testifying to a parliamentary committee in Rome, justified the decision by saying that the European Union “must not leave Moscow with a monopoly” in Syria. Russia is considered a major supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
In recent years, Italy, like other EU countries, has handled diplomatic affairs with Syria from its embassy in Lebanon. But the Italian embassy in Damascus was never formally closed.
There has been a civil war in Syria since 2011 that has left more than 300,000 civilians dead. Despite being largely isolated by the West to date, Assad and his power apparatus currently control around 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 that his position on the issue is in line with 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.
