EU’s Renew Europe Sets Conditions for Engaging Syria’s New Leadership, Stresses Kurdish Rights

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - As international scrutiny intensifies over Syria’s political trajectory and escalating violence in Aleppo, the President of the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament, Valérie Hayer, said European engagement with Syria’s new leadership must be conditional, with clear guarantees for minority rights, women’s rights, and efforts to counter radicalization.

Speaking during a press conference in Brussels, and in an interview with Kurdistan24 on the sidelines of the event, Hayer outlined the European Union’s approach toward Syria’s political transition. She said the EU has adopted a strategy aimed at accompanying, rather than reopening, the transition process, emphasizing a gradual, conditional path forward.

“We had a strategy with the EU to say we should accompany the democratic transition,” Hayer said. “Saying accompany, not to re-open everything, but to go step by step with conditions.”

Hayer explained that European diplomatic and political support for Syria’s new leadership would depend on firm commitments. “On a diplomatic view, on a political view, we can support the new regime if we have strong conditions,” she said, specifying minority rights, women’s rights, and combating radicalization and what she described as the Islamic situation as central pillars of those conditions.

She added that European engagement is aimed at encouraging Syria’s return to a democratic path, but only within a clearly defined framework. “Of course there is this reopening, making or trying to make Syria becoming back in the democratic way, but it should be done with conditions, of course,” Hayer said.

Highlighting the Kurdish issue, Hayer reaffirmed long-standing European support. “We have always been supportive of the Kurdish community and that is one of the reasons why we should have strict condition and clarify it with the current government,” she said.

Hayer’s remarks come amid growing international concern over developments in Aleppo and the broader security landscape in Syria. Russia has voiced alarm over rising civilian casualties in the Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsud neighborhoods of Aleppo, where clashes have taken place between the Syrian Arab Army and Internal Security Force (Asayish).

Maria Zakharova, Director of the Department of Information and Press at Russia’s Foreign Ministry, told Kurdistan24 that Moscow is closely monitoring what she described as a seriously tense situation in Aleppo since the beginning of the month. She stressed that attacks harming civilians are unacceptable and called for a political solution through comprehensive negotiations, including restoring a national pact and safeguarding the rights and aspirations of all components of Syrian society.

At the same time, warnings have intensified from the United States regarding the security implications of military pressure on Kurdish forces. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham cautioned that any escalation against the Kurds could endanger the detention of approximately 9,000 ISIS prisoners held by Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria.

In a statement posted on X on Jan. 16, 2026, Graham said he was increasingly concerned that Syria’s new leadership may be aligning with Türkiye to use military force against Syrian Kurds. He described the Kurdish forces as Washington’s strongest ally in the enduring defeat of ISIS and linked their role directly to US national security interests.

Graham warned that any attempt to undermine Kurdish control of the detention facilities could trigger wide bipartisan opposition in Washington. “If anyone believes that I or any of my colleagues would be comfortable – at this stage – for the ISIS prisoners to be guarded by the Syrian army or Türkiye instead of the Kurds, you are sadly mistaken. Choose wisely,” he said.

Against the backdrop of mounting violence, international warnings, and competing diplomatic pressures, the EU’s Renew Europe Group has made clear that engagement with Syria’s new leadership will hinge on concrete guarantees, with the protection of Kurdish rights remaining a central condition.

Kurdistan24's correspondent Barzan Hassan contributed to this report.