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European Countries Halt Syrian Asylum Applications after Assad’s Fall

A man sells opposition flags at the Al-Hamidiyeh market inside the old walled city of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP)
A man sells opposition flags at the Al-Hamidiyeh market inside the old walled city of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP)
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European Countries Halt Syrian Asylum Applications after Assad’s Fall

A man sells opposition flags at the Al-Hamidiyeh market inside the old walled city of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP)
A man sells opposition flags at the Al-Hamidiyeh market inside the old walled city of Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP)

Many European countries have put asylum applications from Syrians on hold after the opposition seized the Syrian capital and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia following 13 years of civil war.

Here is what European countries have done:

AUSTRIA

Austria's caretaker government on Monday ordered a stop to the processing of asylum applications by Syrians. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said he had told the ministry to prepare a program of "orderly repatriation and deportation to Syria".

BRITAIN

Britain has paused decisions on Syrian asylum claims to assess the situation, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

CROATIA

Croatia said on Tuesday it had temporarily suspended asylum applications from Syrians.

DENMARK

Denmark paused processing applications on Monday and said Syrians whose applications had already been rejected, and who had been given a deadline to leave, would be allowed to remain longer due to the current uncertainty.

FINLAND

The Finnish migration authority, which currently has 350 asylum applications from Syrian nationals, said on Tuesday it had paused handling them.

FRANCE

The interior ministry said on Monday it was working on a suspension of current asylum cases from Syria, with a decision expected shortly.

GERMANY

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees on Monday put all applications from Syrian nationals on hold until further notice.

GREECE

Greece has paused asylum applications of about 9,000 Syrians, with a meeting planned for Friday to finalize the move, a senior government official told Reuters on Monday.

ITALY

Italy's government said on Monday it would pause asylum applications from Syria.

NORWAY

Norwegian immigration authorities said on Monday that Syrians' asylum applications would neither be denied nor approved for now.

POLAND

The Polish Office for Foreigners will not issue decisions on Syrian citizens' applications for international protection until the situation in Syria is clarified, Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Duszcyk said on Tuesday in a post on X.

SWEDEN

The Swedish migration agency said on Monday it had paused decisions on Syrian asylum applications, saying it was not possible to assess the need for protection.

SWITZERLAND

The Swiss government said on Tuesday it had temporarily suspended asylum procedures for Syrians until it can better assess the situation in the country.

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World

Ukraine, Latvia Sign Drone Deal, Zelenskiy Says

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference during the Nordic-Baltic cooperation (NB8) Prime Ministers' meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference during the Nordic-Baltic cooperation (NB8) Prime Ministers' meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)
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Ukraine, Latvia Sign Drone Deal, Zelenskiy Says

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference during the Nordic-Baltic cooperation (NB8) Prime Ministers' meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference during the Nordic-Baltic cooperation (NB8) Prime Ministers' meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, June 9, 2026. (Reuters)

Ukraine has signed a drone deal with Latvia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday as he met with Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs on the sidelines of a summit between Ukraine and Nordic and Baltic states in the Estonian capital Tallinn.

"These are concrete things to strengthen our joint defense and co-production, and, importantly, this also means Ukraine's expertise and experience helping to strengthen our partners," Zelenskiy said in a post on X.

He gave no ‌details of what ‌the deal entailed.

Kulbergs said the agreement ‌would ⁠give Latvia technological know-how ⁠and co-production opportunities.

"We need to protect our skies, and nobody knows how to do that better than Ukraine," he told a joint press conference with Zelenskiy and other leaders attending the summit, adding that drones were responsible for the vast majority of deaths of Russian troops in the ⁠Ukraine war.

Since the outbreak of the Iran ‌war in late February, Zelenskiy ‌has managed to leverage Ukraine's expertise in drone warfare into a ‌series of successful diplomatic deals during visits to Europe and elsewhere.

Rustem Umerov, the chairman of Ukraine's defense and security council, said Latvia was the sixth country to join Kyiv's drone cooperation initiative.

Last month, Zelenskiy said nearly 20 countries ‌were interested in drone deals with Ukraine.

"Ukraine is interested in ensuring that every region of Europe ⁠has sufficient ⁠protection against Russian threats," Zelenskiy said on X.

The Baltic countries, which are all members of NATO, have seen several instances of drones entering their airspace in recent weeks, as Ukraine has stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian energy facilities. Ukraine has blamed the incidents on Russia affecting the drone paths with electronic warfare.

Responding to a question on such incidents during an earlier joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart Alar Karis, Zelenskiy repeated that Ukraine was sending its experts to help protect the skies of its close partners.

World

France Bans Israeli Minister Smotrich in Coordinated Sanctions Push

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric looks on as he addresses the relatives of Israelis being held hostage by Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during a rally in the center of Jerusalem on June 3, 2024. (AFP)
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric looks on as he addresses the relatives of Israelis being held hostage by Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during a rally in the center of Jerusalem on June 3, 2024. (AFP)
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France Bans Israeli Minister Smotrich in Coordinated Sanctions Push

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric looks on as he addresses the relatives of Israelis being held hostage by Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during a rally in the center of Jerusalem on June 3, 2024. (AFP)
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric looks on as he addresses the relatives of Israelis being held hostage by Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during a rally in the center of Jerusalem on June 3, 2024. (AFP)

France Tuesday banned Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, the French foreign minister said, as part of coordinated sanctions with other countries over settler violence against Palestinians.

France's sanctions were in coordination with Britain, Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand targeting "those responsible for the escalation of settlement activity and violence in the West Bank", French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X.

He said Smotrich "actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank, which he openly claims, the creation of new settlements in the West Bank, the re-colonization of Gaza, the economic collapse of the Palestinian Authority and its harmful consequences for the Palestinian population".

"This is a policy that the overwhelming majority of the international community, firmly committed to the two-state solution, cannot accept," Barrot wrote on X.

Smotrich is the second member of the Israeli government to be forbidden from entering France in recent months, after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was barred on May 23 for mocking activists detained by Israeli soldiers from a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid for the Palestinian territory.

France also banned four leaders of settler organizations and 21 violent settlers.

- 'Scant accountability' -

Norway said it would adopt the same sanctions as those announced by the European Union on May 28, as well as impose an entry ban targeting "20 violent settlers", without naming them.

Along with sanctions against "networks financing and enabling settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank", the United Kingdom also urged British businesses and citizens to refrain from conducting financial activities in Israeli settlements deemed illegal under international law.

"We believe that violent settler groups should not be profiting from the land that they have seized from Palestinians," Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told parliament.

The Israeli "government has condemned some settler violence, but that rings hollow when there is scant accountability", she added.

Israel's foreign ministry quickly condemned the sanctions as "disgraceful".

"The real essence of these steps is the attempt to impose a political stance regarding the right of Jews to settle in the Land of Israel and concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- camouflaged as measures against violence," ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said.

- Banned ministers -

Ben-Gvir and Smotrich had already been banned by the five other countries in June last year, over accusations of inciting violence against Palestinians, particularly in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli government at the time condemned the sanctions as "scandalous".

Other countries have also banned the ministers, including Spain, Slovenia and most recently Ireland.

Firebrand Ben-Gvir became a minister in 2022, after an alliance with the far-right Religious Zionist party of Smotrich came third in legislative elections.

Together, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich form a cornerstone of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government.

Since the war in Gaza broke out in October 2023 with Palestinian group Hamas's attack on Israel, near-daily violence has also rocked the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,080 Palestinians since then, including both fighters and civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data.

Official Israeli figures show that at least 46 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the same period.

A United Nations-mandated inquiry on Tuesday said Palestinian civilians are caught between "mass atrocities" of Israeli forces, settlers and the brutal rule of Hamas in war-torn Gaza.

World

US Energy Secretary Says Ship Traffic Through Strait of Hormuz Rising 'Very Meaningfully'

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 8, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 8, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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US Energy Secretary Says Ship Traffic Through Strait of Hormuz Rising 'Very Meaningfully'

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 8, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 8, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Tuesday that ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is rising "very meaningfully" as the conflict with Iran continues.

"I would say rising very meaningfully," Wright said when asked how ship traffic is flowing through the ‌Strait compared ‌to a week or two ‌ago.

Wright ⁠made the remarks ⁠during an Atlantic Council conference and added that it would take many months to get back to normal flows of energy once the war is over.

Vessel movements on ⁠the strait have been ‌largely blocked ‌since US and Israeli strikes on Iran in ‌late February, interrupting around 20% of ‌global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

But some vessels have since begun transiting the narrow waterway bordering Iran, often ‌with transponders turned off and under cover of darkness.

Disruptions to ⁠normal ⁠flows have triggered a surge in global energy prices, upending economies around the world and creating a political vulnerability for US President Donald Trump and his Republican party ahead of midterm elections in November.

Washington has been pressing for a peace deal with Tehran that would include a full reopening of the strait.