By Lili Bayer
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – There are legitimate concerns about the risks of sectarian violence in Syria and a resurgence of extremism in the country, the European Union’s new foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday, while pointing to positive early signals.
Syria’s new interim leader announced on Tuesday he was taking charge of the country as caretaker prime minister with the backing of the former rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad three days ago.
Kallas also told a European Parliament committee session that “the new people are judged by their deeds”.
“It is very, very early to tell whether this goes to the right direction,” she said, adding that “the first signals are good, but we are not rushing into any kind of arrangements yet, if we don’t have certainty”.
European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss the situation when they meet in Brussels on Dec. 16.
Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, said the fall of Assad represented a blow for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran.
“For Putin and the Iranian regime, the fall of Assad is a huge blow for both,” said Kallas.
(Reporting by Lili Bayer; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
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