Italy’s Foreign Minister announces new Ambassador for Syria

• Ravagnan, the current special envoy for Syria, will take up his post shortly.
• Italy and seven other EU states sent a letter to the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urging the EU to play a more active role in Syria.
• The letter lamented the deteriorating humanitarian situation and the country's shambled economy.

Italy has decided to appoint an ambassador to Syria “to turn a spotlight” on the country, its foreign minister said on Friday. This move made Italy the first G7 nation to relaunch its diplomatic mission in Damascus since the civil war began. Italy recalled all staff from its embassy in Damascus in 2012 and suspended diplomatic activity to protest the “unacceptable violence” of Bashar Assad’s government against its citizens.

Assad controls most of Syria after Iran and Russia helped him defeat the rebel groups that turned against him 13 years ago. This conflict triggered a war that killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions of refugees in Europe.

Stefano Ravagnan, currently the foreign ministry’s special envoy for Syria, has been named ambassador. He is set to take up his post shortly, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Reuters. Last week, Italy and seven other EU states sent a letter to the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, urging the EU to play a more active role in the country.

“Syrians continue to leave in large numbers, putting additional strain on neighboring countries, in a period when tension in the area is running high, risking new refugee waves,” the letter seen by Reuters said.

Along with Italy, Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Croatia, Slovenia, and Slovakia signed the letter. The letter lamented that “the humanitarian situation” in the country had “further deteriorated” and that its economy was “in shambles.”

“Borrell mandated the European External Action Service to study what can be done,” Tajani said on Friday, adding that naming a new ambassador was “in line with the letter we sent to Borrel ... to turn the spotlight on Syria.”

Currently, six EU embassies are open in Damascus: Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. None of Italy’s Group of Seven partners—the United States, Japan, Britain, Canada, France, or Germany—have reinstated ambassadors to Syria.

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