EU leaders push for dialogue with Syria to tackle refugee crisis and ensure conditions for ‘safe’ and ‘dignified’ route home

EU leaders yesterday called for talks with Syria in a bid to tackle the bloc’s migrant crisis.

Syria has been a pariah in the wake of chemical weapon strikes by its dictator Bashar al-Assad. 

But at a summit in Brussels, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni lobbied for a review of the EU’s strategy towards Damascus.

One Italian diplomat said Ms Meloni supported the ‘need to create the conditions for a safe, dignified and voluntary return of Syrian refugees to Syria’.

Meloni (pictured October 16) urged conditions for a ‘safe’ and ‘voluntary’ return to Syria

Danish PM Mette Frederiksen also called for a ‘discussion’ which could lead to an ‘innovative solution’ regarding Syrian migrants.

Wider talks are taking place about the way the bloc handles migration, including setting up projects resembling Britain’s now-scrapped Rwanda asylum scheme.

Since Labour ditched it, backing for comparable schemes has been gathering pace on the Continent.