KUWAIT CITY (Dispatches) – Kuwait is looking to reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, 13 years after closing the embassy down in the wake of the foreign-backed war on Syria and the Arab League’s decision to suspend Syria’s membership, according to reports. 
Many other states closed their embassies as a result of the Arab League decision.
Syria’s Al-Watan newspaper cited officials as saying that a Kuwaiti delegation has recently visited Damascus to facilitate the resumption of high-level diplomatic relations between the two countries as soon as possible. According to the sources, a group of Kuwaiti businessmen also visited Damascus to discuss potential cooperation with Syrian counterparts. The Arab League readmitted Syria in May 2023.
Earlier this year, the UAE appointed an ambassador to Damascus for the first time since closing its embassy in 2011. The new Emirati ambassador, Hassan al-Shehhi, presented his credentials to the Syrian Foreign Minister, Faisal al-Miqdad, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Syrian capital.
Last week, Italy also announced that it would appoint an ambassador to Syria, since it recalled all its employees in 2012, and suspended its diplomatic activity there. With this step, Italy becomes the first G7 country to resume its diplomatic mission in Damascus since the outbreak of the foreign-backed war in the country.
Stefano Ravagnan, who is currently the Italian foreign ministry’s special envoy for Syria, was named as the ambassador and will be taking up his new post shortly.
In 2012, Rome recalled its diplomats from its embassy in Syria. After 13 years of war and half a million dead, the government has regained control of much of the country. The northeast is controlled by U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, while other parts of the north are held by terrorist groups and Turkish troops.
It also comes a few days after eight EU countries, including Italy, called on the bloc to “review and assess” its policy in Syria.
“Our goal is a more active, outcome-driven, and operational Syria policy… This would allow us to increase our political leverage [and] the effectiveness of our humanitarian assistance,” said the foreign ministers of Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Czech, Slovakia, Slovenia and Italy in a letter sent to the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.