Hungary is drawing up plans to upgrade diplomatic relations with Syria, a move that will anger influential EU members who have sought to keep their distance from the Damascus regime.
Budapest has for months been working on a proposal to send a chargé d’affaires back to Syria, according to diplomats in Brussels and Beirut, which would be a precursor to reopening its closed embassy eventually. While a few European capitals kept up diplomatic ties during the seven-year conflict, this would be the first time an EU member state has moved towards reopening a shuttered embassy in Syria.
Many EU members strongly oppose normalising relations with the Bashar al-assad’s authoritarian regime by dispatching envoys to Syria. One European diplomat in Beirut called Hungary’s proposed move “very annoying”.
While influential EU member states have officially upheld their longstanding stance of denying the Assad regime reconstruction funding and diplomatic relations without an agreed political transition, a few states are breaking away.
“Ultimately it is for individual countries to decide their representation,” said an official from an EU country that has sought to maintain a tough line. “But we do not think the climate is right.”
The Hungarian foreign affairs ministry and a government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. Administration representatives in Brussels referred questions to Budapest.
Hungary’s far-right prime minister Viktor Orban has sought to portray himself as a defender of Christianity, and has met senior representatives from Syria’s various Christian communities.
According to European diplomats, Hungary insists that it is motivated to strengthen its presence in Damascus as part of its aid efforts, although it is a minor contributor to the multibillion-dollar humanitarian effort in Syria and mainly funnels support towards Christian communities.
A European diplomat remarked: “In Budapest, it is a national sport to annoy Brussels.”
Emile Hokayem, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think-tank, called Hungary’s potential move “a stunt based on ideology”. He said it would “further erode the EU consensus, but that is in large part because [Germany, France and the UK] are not making [Syria] a priority any more”.
