EU Confronts Stark Syrian Reality After Militants Attack Religious Minorities

The European Union (EU) confronts a stark reality in Syria after Islamic extremists attacked the religious minorities in the country earlier this month.

The EU has supported the interim Syrian government by easing some of the sanctions imposed since 2011. The bloc failed to condemn interim Syrian president and leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahmed Al-Sharaa, despite his links to the militants responsible for the attacks.

Violence erupted after pro-Assad fighters ambushed government forces near the Mediterranean cities of Latakia and Tartous. In response, HTS, an internationally designated terror organization, and other Islamist militias retaliated against Alawite and Christian communities.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that around 1,130 people died in the fighting. This included 830 civilians. The figures remain unverified.

"This bloodiest spate of violence since the Assad regime collapse in December could portend a significant challenge to Syria's fragile stability," Mona Yacoubian, vice president of the Middle East and North African Center at the United States Institute of Peace, said. She also stated, "The international community has responded with growing alarm to the spiraling violence in Syria."

EU Condemns Violence, Blames Pro-Assad Forces

The EU condemned the violence, but it blamed pro-Assad forces. It did not address the role of Islamic militants connected to Al-Sharaa for the sectarian killings.

"The European Union strongly condemns the recent attacks, reportedly by pro-Assad elements, on interim government forces in the coastal areas of Syria and all violence against civilians," the EU said in a statement on March 8.

US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, pointed out "the radical Islamist terrorists, including foreign jihadis, that murdered people in western Syria in recent days." The US urged Syria's interim authorities to hold "the perpetrators of these massacres against Syria's minority communities accountable," Rubio said on March 9.

Turkey, a key ally of the new Syrian government, downplayed the mass slaughter of civilians. Ankara described the violence as merely "tension in and around Latakia."

EU Faces Pressure for Stance on Syrian Violence

Critics quickly accused the EU of refusing to acknowledge the Islamic militants responsible for the slaughter. They said the EU provided cover for the Syrian government, which has links to the militants responsible for the violence.

Nikolas Farantouris, a Greek member of the European Parliament, criticized the EU for equating "the victim with the perpetrator." He commented on March 11 during the European Parliament's plenary debate on Syria.

"The EU condemns the ‘pro-Assad elements' instead of its jihadist partners," Glenn Diesen, a professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway, wrote on X. The EU spread "fake news," Ralph Schoellhammer, the head of the Center for Applied History at the Budapest-based Mathias Corvinus Collegium, said.

Government and Islamist forces targeted the Alawite community in Syria's western coastal region. The Shia minority comprises around 10% of Syria's population and is historically linked to the Assad family.

Militants executed Christian families, including parents and an infant, according to Greco-Levantines World Wide. The media organization reports on the rights of Antiochian Greeks and Orthodox Christians in the Middle East.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said that about 9,000 people took shelter at the Hmeimim base near Latakia.

Syrian Economy Decimated by Nearly 14 Years of Civil War

The Syrian civil war decimated the economy. GDP contracted by roughly 85% as anti-Assad forces tried to topple the regime as part of the Arab Spring protests. The civil war led to mass migration to Europe. This fueled the rise in right-wing parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AFD).

The United Kingdom lifted asset freezes on 24 Syrian entities on March 6. It cited its "commitment to help the people of Syria rebuild their country and economy.”

On February 24, the EU agreed to suspend sanctions on the energy, transportation, and banking sectors. They lifted asset freezes on Syria's Industrial Bank, Popular Credit Bank, Saving Bank, Agricultural Cooperative Bank, and Syrian Arab Airlines.

The bloc eased restrictions on the Central Bank of Syria to facilitate transactions for humanitarian and reconstruction purposes.

"The fall of the Al-Assad regime marks the beginning of a new era of hope ," the Council of the EU said. "All Syrians, in the country and diaspora, should have the opportunity to participate in the rebuilding of their country."

Syria's Al-Sharaa Creates Committee to Investigate Violence

Al-Sharaa said the government forces had attempted to root out the "remnants" of the Assad regime. He announced the creation of a committee to investigate the violence.

However, clerics of the Alawite Islamic Council claim Al-Sharaa's government is using "the pretext of [combating] regime remnants, to terrorize and kill Syrians."

Daniel Gerlach, Middle East expert and editor-in-chief of Zenith Magazine, agreed with this assessment. He referred to the recent mass killings as a deliberate "ethnic cleansing."

The Alawites “were as frustrated with this regime as everyone," Gerlach told Germany's DW News on March 9.

Syrian Hardline Extremists Will Remain in Control of Syria

The Syrian civil war pitted secular Sunnis, Alawites, and Christians against mainly Sunni-Muslim militants trying to topple the government. The war, which killed as many as 620,000 people, intensified sectarian tensions.

Initially backed by former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, Al-Sharaa aligned his al-Nusra Front jihadist group with al-Qaeda. He led the terror organization's principal fighting force in Syria before forming HTS in 2016.

The US only recently removed a $10 million bounty on Al-Sharaa. HTS is designated a terrorist organization by the UN, EU, and US.

"For the next few years, it will be almost impossible to reduce the influence of vengeful or ideologically hardline Islamists within HTS and its partners… Raiders struggle to turn into administrators," former Senior Advisor on the Middle East to the Australian Foreign Minister and the UN International Organization for Migration Philip Eliason, and former Australian diplomat David Livingstone, wrote in the Lowy Institute's publication The Interpreter.

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