EU Call on Syria’s HTS Regime to Brussels after Slaughter of Alawites

By Staff, Agencies

The European Commission has invited Syria’s Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) administration to an official conference in Brussels after the slaughter of hundreds of Alawites in the country's west.  

The European Commission has invited HTS foreign minister Asaad al-Shaibani to attend a donor conference for Syria's new rulers on March 17.

The EU's donor conference, titled 'Standing with Syria: Meeting the Needs for a Successful Transition,' is set to be the first since the Assad administration's ouster in December.

Hipper said the conference presents a “very important occasion” to engage with the new Syrian rulers.

HTS-led forces have over the past weeks perpetrated a vast array of massacres against minorities, especially Alawites, in the country’s northwestern coastal region.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that over 1,540 civilians have been killed in violence in Tartus, Latakia, Hama, and Homs provinces.

Human rights groups and the international community demanded an end to massacres and atrocities by HTS-led forces in Syria.

They have also called for the establishment of an independent international investigation committee under the UN’s direct oversight.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Tuesday stopped short of condemning the killings and defended the deeds of HTS militants. 

"It's too early to confirm; initial signs look positive, but we're not making arrangements without certainty," she said.

Kallas only expressed concern about the risks of sectarian violence in Syria and a resurgence of extremism in the Arab country

Earlier in the month, the United Kingdom announced the removal of 24 Syrian entities from the sanctions it had imposed during the Assad government.