Syria
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War in Syria: 500 young Europeans have taken arms against the regime
8 May 201315116PresseuropEl Mundo -
EU-Syria: Brussels lifts embargo on Syrian rebels’ oil
23 April 201325PresseuropEuropean Voice -
EU-Syria: EU considers lifting oil embargo
19 April 2013295PresseuropInternational Herald Tribune, The Irish Times -
Belgium: ‘Islamist crackdown’
17 April 2013421PresseuropLa Libre Belgique -
Belgium: ‘This is the first time that Belgians are fighting alongside Al-Qaeda’
12 April 2013442PresseuropGazet van Antwerpen -
Syria: Paris Pinocchio
29 March 2013823 Al-Mustaqbal Beirut -
Syria: A training ground for European jihadists
25 March 20131062PresseuropJyllands-Posten, De Morgen, De Standaard -
Syria: Unhappy anniversary
15 March 201320 La Liberté Fribourg -
Editorial: Grim anniversary
15 March 201346Presseurop -
EU-Syria: ‘UK and France: We must arm Syrian rebels’
15 March 20133611PresseuropThe Guardian -
Middle East: No arms for Syria
7 March 201321 Jyllands-Posten Aarhus -
Denmark: ‘Danish Muslims encouraged to join the holy war in Syria’
1 March 2013515PresseuropJyllands-Posten -
Middle East: Croatian weapons in Syrian rebel hands
27 February 2013462PresseuropLa Libre Belgique -
Diplomacy: Syria: Europe’s unsustainable strategic weakness
4 October 201211853 Le Huffington Post Paris -
Syria: Bad boy
16 July 201248 De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
Euro 2012: The beautiful game
13 June 201246 De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
Syria: Assad’s teddy bear
4 June 201231 The Nation Bangkok -
Diplomacy: Berlin and Paris divided over Syria
31 May 2012372PresseuropSüddeutsche Zeitung -
Syria-EU: Fire
29 May 201239 Al-Mustaqbal Beirut -
Syria: Peace Bashar-style
10 April 201267 La Vanguardia Barcelona -
EU-Syria: Heavy artillery
16 March 201260 Khaleej Times Dubaï -
Diplomacy: Two weights, two measures
13 March 201264 Jyllands-Posten Aarhus -
Syria-EU: Europe intervenes
28 February 201260 Le Temps Geneva -
Press Freedom: Syria killers
23 February 201238 La Libre Belgique Brussels -
Europe – Syria: No one lifts a finger to stop Assad
16 February 20122207 Revista 22 Bucharest -
Syria: Diplomatic class
9 February 201229 Le Soir Brussels -
European parliament: Sakharov prize for the Arab spring
14 December 201129PresseuropEl Mundo -
Syria: Fighting talk
17 November 201144 The New York Times New York -
Germany-Syria: Damascus spying with European technology
7 November 2011561PresseuropDer Spiegel -
Diplomacy: EU to embargo Syrian oil
2 September 2011PresseuropDe Volkskrant -
EU-Syria: Calls to boycott Syrian oil
31 August 201118PresseuropPresseurop -
Europe-Syria: “Your silence is killing us”
2 August 20112892 Corriere della Sera Milan -
Middle East: Europe has a role to play
28 July 2011751 Al Hayat London -
Libya/Syria: Double jeopardy for France
12 July 20111PresseuropLibération -
Editorial: Support Ankara against Assad
17 June 201149Presseurop -
Middle East: Europe doesn't have the firepower
15 June 20112015 Libération Paris -
Diplomacy: 5 billion to aid Arab revolutions
26 May 201128PresseuropEl País -
Syria-EU: Carte blanche for Assad
12 May 2011692 SME Bratislava -
Union for the Mediterranean: The Med’s adrift
23 September 201055 El País Madrid -
Religion and State : Burqa, the cross we must bear
21 July 201030114 Der Standard Vienna -
Geopolitics: The new old order
20 October 2009The Independent London -
Middle East: Moving closer to Syria
27 August 2009The Guardian London
The impotence of the EU faced with the drama in Syria reflects the lack of a credible European foreign policy. But this can only come about if the European Union gets a real armed force of its own.
How to oppose the massacres in Syria? While the question grows more pressing by the day, the West, and Europe in particular, seems indecisive and helpless. Is it because conditions have changed following the intervention in Libya.
In the wake of 9/11, the West demanded that Arab populations embrace democracy. In countries like Syria, they are now risking their lives to do just that, while Europeans stand back as though they were incapable of dealing with problems beyond their borders. The founder of the Community of Saint Egidio sets the record straight.
After years of playing a secondary role in the Arab world, the EU now has an opportunity to exert a positive influence in a region where the United States and Russia have failed to respond to radical change. An Al-Hayat columnist outlines how Europe can make a difference.
Now that they are involved in Libya, Europeans have discovered that they do not have the means to achieve their ambitions. And without the backing of military means, EU diplomacy will not be credible in a strategic region for Europe. This is the logic behind the need for common defence programmes.
While determined to bring at end to Muammar Gaddafi's violence against the Libyan people, Europe has been largely silent about the terror exacted by the Basher Al Assad regime in Syria. And the sanctions against his regime announced on the 10 May are further proof of Europe's powerlessness.
The enthusiasm with which the Union for the Mediterranean was launched two years ago has been steadily waning ever since. The main reason why, says French political philosopher Sami Naïr, is the lack of a serious EU commitment to the region.
The ban on the burqa in Belgium and France, now spreading to Spain, the UK, and even to universities in Egypt and Syria, points up the hypocrisy and double standards of Western Christian culture, writes German philosopher Andrea Roedig. If the burqa is an instrument of oppression, isn’t the cross we worship really a morbid fascination with torture?
With America increasingly disengaged from European affairs, and Russian influence tentative at most, the Independent wonders whether in this new age of alignments Europe might not be reverting to the order of old.
Britain’s recent call to bring Syria into the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is part of a wider western strategy to tempt the previously isolated Ba'athist regime away from Iran and continue co-operation with the west in Iraq and Lebanon. Chris Philips at the Guardian wonders whether we are witnessing another example of human rights and democracy being sacrificed for political expediency.