EU should place ‘concrete human rights conditions’ on Syria aid: Lawmaker

STRASBOURG, France - The European Union should tighten conditions on funding for the Syrian government and leverage its trade power to protect human rights, a European lawmaker has told Rudaw.

Daniel Attard, a Maltese member of the European Parliament from the Labor Party, said on Friday that the EU should strengthen guarantees for minority rights and Kurdish political participation by “conditioning its significant aid package against concrete human rights conditions.”

Attard spoke after the European Parliament on Thursday passed a resolution warning of possible war crimes in Syria and reinforcing conditions on 620 million euros ($722 million) in post-war recovery aid for Damascus. The Syrian government is facing mounting international pressure to diversify its Sunni Arab-led government, halt attacks on minorities, and implement a decree guaranteeing Kurdish rights.

“I will continue along with my colleagues to hold not just the Syrian administration, but most importantly the European institutions to account,” he said.

Kurdish, Druze, and Alawite communities have faced attacks since the new Syrian government took power in December 2024, including an ongoing humanitarian crisis and abuse allegations as Syrian troops and armed groups seized Kurdish-held areas.

Attard said he supports EU support for Syria’s “transition into a democratic state which respects human rights” after decades of authoritarian rule but stressed that funding should be conditional.

This should include “the right of the Kurdish people to determine their own future and to be completely involved - not just theoretically but also practically - in the running of a future Syrian state,” he said.

Damascus has pledged to include Kurds and other minorities in a new centralized political system. Kurds led an autonomous government and de facto military force in northeastern Syria, commonly known as Rojava, during Syria’s 14-year civil war. An agreement between Kurdish officials and the Syrian government integrates the autonomously-run Kurdish institutions under the central government.

The EU resolution came after weeks of attacks on Kurdish-held areas. Attard said while the EU wields substantial power politically and economically as a “big single market” it is “more of a cruise ship than a speedboat” in geopolitics.

“I think that is regrettable because the European Union stands for human rights,” he said. “But human rights should not stop at our borders. They should apply everywhere.”

The following is a full transcript of the interview with Daniel Attard:

Rudaw: I saw a video of you on Instagram and social media calling on the international community to prevent a massacre of the Kurds. You’re not saying this just as a member of the European Parliament, but as someone who has a degree in law, who has a lot of experience as a mayor and then as a High Representative of your country in the European Union, in the United Nations, in the United Kingdom. So you know the institutions outside the Parliament. How did you conclude that there is a massacre in Rojava and in Kurdistan there?

European member of Parliament Daniel Attard: Above all, I said that as a human being. As a father. Before [speaking] as a lawyer or as a Member of the European Parliament or beyond my experience, I said that as a father and as a human being. As a person who believes in human life, who has respect for human life, who has respect for human rights. And that is why I speak out consistently - as I said, not just about what's happening in Syria or what has happened in Syria, but what has happened across the region, across the Middle East and also beyond. This is what guides me. It's my conviction, it's my principles, the respect for human rights.

I believe that even one death is too many. And I firmly also believe that we, as the European Union, should remember who protected the European communities in the fight against terrorism, in the fight against extremist fighters, the fight against ISIS. I think we should now assume the same responsibility towards the Kurdish forces, the Kurdish people who stood at the front line in protecting not just their region, not just their lives - but also the lives of Europeans here inside the heart of the European Union.

A debate and resolution from the European Parliament took a long time [after] a full-scale offensive against the Kurds in Syria; 150,000 people are displaced, [Kurds] fled their homes because of the offensive of the Syrian government. Why did it take so long to have the debate this week?

As I said earlier, many times, unfortunately, regretfully, the European Union loses its institutional memory. Why? Because we have many people who are guided by political and geopolitical convenience rather than conviction.

We must remember that the European Union is not a federal state. The European Union is not Russia, it is not the People’s Republic of China, it is not the United States. We are not a federal state. The European Union is made up of different institutions. The European Parliament has 720 members from across various political groups, the full spectrum of political convictions. The European Council is made up of 27 Member States. It's not one federal state, it's not one superpower.

So I think this is what causes the delays because you need unanimity, you need a common voice to take a stance on the international forum. And this is what holds the European Union back, unfortunately, because I believe that when it comes to respect for human rights, which are universal - if we truly believe that human rights are universal, I think it shouldn't take us that long. But the institutional formation - the way the treaties are prescribed - preclude the European Union from acting faster. Unfortunately, this is the reality by which the European Union has existed, by which the European Union has succeeded throughout its lifetime in many areas.

But when it comes to geopolitics, unfortunately, the European Union is more of a cruise ship than a speedboat. And I think that is regrettable because the European Union stands for human rights. But human rights should not stop at our borders. They should apply everywhere and anywhere.

It's not a federal state, it's not America, and for many people it means the European Union doesn’t have much power to, for example, pressure the Syrian government to not massacre the Kurds. Do you agree with that? After the resolution, are there more tools or teeth?

I tend to disagree. Why? Because the European Union has power. Unfortunately, that power sometimes is leveraged against its weakness. The European Union has a very, very strong and big single market and that is a big power on the global stage when it comes, for example, to trade agreements, to trade negotiations. The European Union is a big power, a big force to be reckoned with. But that power is many times leveraged against political weakness on the global stage.

Now, when it comes to Syria, as you know and as your audience would know, the European Union has pledged support for the Syrian transition. And that in itself at face value is positive because we want Syria to transition into a democratic state which respects human rights, which respects minorities, which respects communities, which determines its own future. That in principle is all good.

But what is regrettable in my opinion is that the aid package which was promised by the European Union, by the European Commission, does not have sufficient guarantees for - or let’s say conditionalities - based on the respect for human rights, on the inclusion of all minorities, of all communities, on the right of the Kurdish people to determine their own future and to be completely involved - not just theoretically but also practically - in the running of a future Syrian state.

So I think that is where the EU can use its power by conditioning its significant aid package against concrete human rights conditions. I think this is what we could do and this is what we are calling for in the chamber of the European Parliament.

In terms of legislation, the European Union is doing enough after the resolution there is enough done in terms of legislation. What should the Commission do after that?

As I said, I think it's up to us, co-legislators - the European Parliament and the European Council - to insist on conditionalities. We want the aid package for a transition in Syria based on the respect for human rights, on the inclusion of all minorities, on the inclusion of all communities. And when I say inclusion, it's not just giving a voice, but involving directly in the running of the state. A state which respects equality in all aspects and at all levels of a Syrian state. So that is what we should do.

Beautiful conditions, beautiful words - but what is the mechanism to ensure that is happening?

It is the same mechanism which we have applied in other aid packages in other countries. So, we have done this before. We should apply the same principles in Syria.

So you believe it works?

It could work, yes. It could work with vigilance and with consistency.

There's a new generation in Kurdistan; the Kurdistan region is now part of Iraq. And we also have a young generation in Syria. They never saw, for example, Iraq rule over them, or Syria rule over them. They grew up in their own administration, their own governments - Kurdish self-ruling governments. Are there any guarantees from you, from your side, from Europe, to protect those entities, Kurdish self-ruling entities?

That is what we are calling for. That is what I called for here in the European Parliament. But as I said earlier, the European Union is made up of different institutions. We are doing our job. We have spoken out consistently, repeatedly, and with credibility. And we will continue to hold not just the Syrian administration to account, but also the European institutions to account if they do not stick to our principles, if they do not ensure that any aid given to the Syrian transition is based on the respect for human rights. This is what we have been doing and this is what we will continue to do. This I can promise you: As a parliamentarian, I will continue along with my colleagues to hold not just the Syrian administration, but most importantly the European institutions to account.

You promised me you will push this process, but there is a lot of fear inside Kurdistan. [Kurds] say … [the international community] is shifting their focus. They are forgetting us again. Do you promise that you will never forget the people of Kurdistan and you will remain focused on their cause?

I remain focused on the cause for respect for human rights wherever they are breached. And we will be consistently defending human rights and the respect for minorities and the respect for democracy and democratic principles wherever they may be. So, in this Parliament, we have processes, of course. Every plenary session we have means to have urgency resolutions, to have urgency debates, and we will continue to speak out for the respect for human rights and for the respect for self-determination, for democratic determination, wherever it may be. So, this is what we will continue to do, what we have been doing, and what we will continue to do. I can guarantee that our door remains open for dialogue and for engagement.