Hungary Reopening Its Embassy in Syria’s Capital

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, announced that the country is reopening its embassy in the capital of Syria, Damascus.

The decision of Hungary to reopen the embassy in Damascus follows the stabilisation of the security situation and the abatement of the armed conflict, Schengen.News reports. 

As Minister Szijjártó explained, the reopening of the embassy in Damascus is an important step. According to him, the Hungarian presence in Syria would permit to gain credible and first-hand information related to local development. 

The same noted that by having its embassy reopened in Damascus, Hungary will have an opportunity to represent its political stance and support the interests of Hungarian citizens whenever needed. 

In addition to the above-mentioned, Minister Szijjártó said that Hungary has a great interest in the peace and stability of the Middle East and, at the same time, paid special attention to the communities of Christians who live in the region, for which it will continue to provide humanitarian aid.

As the official website of the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister of Hungary, About Hungary, explains, the ambassador of Hungary to Syria was the first Western diplomat to meet the two largest Christian denominations’ leaders. 

EU Recently Said It Wants to Reopen Delegation in Syria 
The EU head of diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said just last month that the EU wants to reopen the delegation in Syria. This will result in the reopening of EU embassies in Syria’s capital and in the strengthening of the bilateral relations between the bloc and the Middle Eastern country. 

During a debate at the European Parliament, Kallas emphasised that this is a very important step and that the EU must be present in Syria instead of leaving a “vacuum” in the country. 

In addition to the above-mentioned, Kallas said that Russian military bases should no longer be present in Syria as they have not helped the Middle Eastern country but rather offered assistance to Assad to leave and offered shelter. 

The recent developments related to Syria come following the end of Assad’s rule in the country. With the fall of Assad’s rule, several EU countries, including Germany and Austria, as well as Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and Finland, decided to pause the processing of asylum applications filed by Syrians. 

The authorities said that they need to monitor the security situation in Syria before deciding to proceed with processing their applications.

Source: https://schengen.news/hungary-reopening-its-embassy-in-syrias-capital/