- Bahrooz Jaafar

1.0 Introduction

            The role played by the European Union (EU) in the crisis in Syria has not really manifested in a significant measure despite being affected by the conflict. It can be noted that just before the outbreak of the crisis, the EU’s relationship with Syria was rather somewhat extensive, economic and political situations were being improved upon through the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership as well as the European neighbourhood policy, at the outbreak of the crisis, all these efforts were abandoned.

            The EU became interested in applying sanctions while its mission in Damascus was reduced, it resorted to extreme political measures which resulted to the political advantage it had.The situation in Syria called for policies and plans that are fundamental enough to bring the desired improvement in the life of the people(Berti, 2015). The EU, however, had policies that did exactly the reverse of this desire. The sanctions it resorted to made the condition of the ordinary people even worse and also increased the growth of the defective economy. Also, no serious importance was attached to social issues such as justice and accountability by the EU being some of the main causes of the crisis. These and some of the vital issues surrounding the crisis as they bother on the role of the EU in the crisis as well as the way forward will be the focus here.

1. Research Questions

In addressing the core essence of this work, it is pertinent to identify and clarify some germane posers that serve as guide to this work. In doing this, this work will provide answer to the following research questions:

1. What dimension did the EU policy on Syrian crisis take?
2. How fundamental is the impact of EU in Syrian crisis?
3. To what extent is the crisis aggravated or abated by EU response?
4. What has been the relationship between Syrian and EU before and since the crisis?

   Click here to read more -PDF