The Syrian National Council is calling for Denmark to close its embassy in Damascus, but Foreign Minister Villy Søvndal is adamant that Denmark, which is current EU President, will maintain its embassy for the time being.

“We would like all the EU countries and the Arab countries to close their embassies,” SNC Representative Khaled Khoja in neighbouring Turkey tells Politiken.dk.

The Syrian National Council is the largest of the Syrian opposition groups, with representative offices around the world and also in Syria itself.

Søvndal, however, says that Denmark will remain in Damascus for the time being, and that there are differing signals from the various opposition groups in Syria.

“Many different opposition groups, both inside and outside Syria, are working to create a common platform. That is a challenge after so many years of division and repression. It is not strange that there are different and opposing signals,” Søvndal says.

“As I have already made clear, we and the other Nordic countries are keeping our embassies in Damascus. I feel that we need diplomacy and eyes and ears in these difficult times,” Søvndal says.

“As far as I know, the Syrian opposition inside the country has repeatedly made it clear that a continued foreign embassy presence is wanted,” he says.

But Khoja says foreign embassies are not serving any purpose other than prolonging the situation. The United States and the United Kingdom have both withdrawn their ambassadors from Damascus.

“Normally it’s a good idea with open embassies, but what can they do in relation to what is happening in Homs? They can’t send observers to the town. Any idea that they can document what is happening in Syria is hopeless. The documentation comes from the 10,000 videos that are sent onto the Internet by civilian activists,” Khoja says.

Søvndal disagrees.

“If we withdraw our ambassador now, a small embassy like ours would be particularly weakened in being able to act on what is going on in Syria – something that is also important for the civilian population,” Søvndal says.

Khoja says a closure of embassies would lead to the total isolation of the Assad regime as a final diplomatic step prior to military sanctions. And although the SNC is not looking for foreign military intervention in Syria it would support the establishment of safe zones in the country.

“Assad isn’t listening to anyone any more. Keeping embassies open is a waste of time in connection with the next steps that must be taken,” Khoja says.

FACEBOOK – Follow Politiken’s News in English