Il Foglio: Rome convinced the EU to appoint a special envoy to Syria

The Italian Il Foglio newspaper revealed that the Italian government succeeded in convincing the European Union to appoint a special envoy to Syria, as the former Austrian ambassador to Türkiye and Egypt, Christian Berger, was chosen for this position.

The Italian newspaper reported that Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy representative, appointed Austrian diplomat Berger as the new special envoy of the European Union to Syria.

Berger has extensive experience in Syria, having previously served as the European Union ambassador to Türkiye, and is currently preparing to leave Egypt after completing his four-year mission there.

According to the newspaper, the appointment of a special envoy to Syria is the result of diplomatic efforts led by Italy within the European Union.

Italy is one of the main countries seeking to normalize relations with Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

The newspaper indicated that the next step for European diplomacy may be to convince German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to recognize safe zones in Syria, as part of a plan to return Syrian refugees to them.

The Italian newspaper reported that Germany has begun to show greater openness to dialogue with the Syrian government in the context of the migration issue.

This announcement comes after the European Commission’s statement last week regarding working on appointing a special envoy to Syria, amid efforts by eight EU countries to resume communication with the Syrian president with the aim of encouraging the return of refugees.

European Commission spokeswoman for foreign affairs, Nabila Massrali, confirmed that the process of appointing the special envoy is still ongoing, without disclosing further details about the appointment date or the identity of the envoy.

EU leaders also discussed the Syrian issue recently during their meeting, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni intensified her talks with leaders of like-minded countries in an attempt to push them to support the return of refugees to Syria.