Kaja Kallas, the new foreign policy chief of the , confirmed that the bloc had sent an envoy to Damascus for talks with the interim government led by rebel group .
The EU’s decision comes after the US and the UK made similar moves over the weekend.
Western allies largely cut diplomatic ties with the regime of former President over a decade ago following his violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
“Our top diplomat in Syria will go to Damascus today. We’ll have the contacts there,” Kallas told journalists ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
“We can’t leave a vacuum,” she added, as regional and global powers begin vying for influence over .
At the same time, many Western countries are wary of dealings with the new government due to HTS’ roots as an off-shoot of al-Qaida in Syria.
“For us, it’s not only the words, but we want to see the deeds going to the right direction. So not only what they are saying, but also what they are doing,” Kallas said of the group’s attempts to soften their image.
“I think the coming weeks and months will show whether it goes to the right direction. And I think then we are also open to discuss next steps,” she added.
es/lo (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)
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