Good morning from Brussels. Several EU member states announced the suspension of procedures for granting refugee status to Syrian nationals following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. However, many questions remain unanswered. Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the Netherlands decided to halt the processing of Syrian asylum applications while France is considering doing the same. Greece will decide on Friday on the matter, which concerns 9,000 Syrian refugees currently in the country. There are two elements: Freezing ongoing applications and re-evaluating cases that were granted refugee status. In the first case, analysts told Nicoletta Ionta that the EU should avoid putting individuals in legal limbo, given that reassessing the situation in Syria may take months. In the second case, the grounds on which refugee status was initially granted will be re-examined. For instance, adult males who qualified based on refusal of military service or political dissent may have to be reassessed, as the Assad regime is no longer in power. Legally, the 1951 Refugee Convention suggests that the cessation of refugee status requires fundamental changes that are “enduring and not of a temporary nature”. Politically, it’s too early for the EU to predict what will happen, so it simply calls for a “peaceful transition.” An EU spokesperson said on Monday that the bloc “is not currently engaging with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) or its leaders – full stop”. HTS has been rooted in Syria's al-Qaeda branch but has distanced itself from the organisation over the years. Some also call on the EU to engage further with Turkey, who supported the rebels against Assad, who Moscow backs. However, the Kurdish issue and the uncertain US stance make things more complex. Meanwhile, Russian experts told Euractiv the Syria loss is Putin’s “personal defeat” but warned that the Kremlin will try to negotiate with the new Syrian government to preserve its military bases. | 
