Just before Syrian rebels started to capture territory in northern Syria, various European Union member states were pushing to rekindle relations with dictator Bashar Assad. The EU promises help in reconstructing Syria—but it also demands political concessions. The recent conflict gives both parties urgency to find a solution.

While the EU debated an unofficial proposal to send a special envoy to Syria, Deutsche Welle reported on November 27 that the EU “wants to be more involved in Syria,” which could involve “more presence on the ground.”

If the EU stays out of Syria, “it can’t do much to support Syrians trying to survive under the regime’s boot, nor can it hope to compete with the likes of Russia and Iran,” warned Julien Barnes-Dacey, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Over the past 13 years, the EU contributed more than €33.3 billion ($35 billion) in aid to Syria and took in nearly 1.3 million Syrian refugees, who mostly settled in Germany. But EU members don’t intend to house refugees and keep donations flowing forever. On July 22, eight European member states called on Brussels to change its strategy. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg explained:

After 13 years of war, we have to admit that our Syria policy has not aged well. Bitter as it is, with the help of Iran and Russia, the Assad regime remains firmly in the saddle, the Syrian opposition is fragmented or in exile altogether—the European Union cannot turn a blind eye to this reality any longer.

The foreign ministers of Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia demanded a “more active, outcome-driven and operational Syria policy,” in a letter to the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell.

In October, Politico commented on the ongoing push led by Italy to “normalize ties with Syria in order to facilitate deportations of migrants.” Prior to meeting with other EU leaders, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the Italian Senate on October 15:

It is necessary to review the European Union strategy for Syria and to work with all actors, to create the conditions for Syrian refugees to return to their homeland in a voluntary, safe and sustainable way.

Jürgen Hardt, foreign policy spokesman for the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union, warned there is “considerable potential for new refugee movements.” Because Turkey will play a key role, it is “urgently necessary for the [EU] to quickly conclude a new migration pact with Turkey,” he noted.

Social Democratic Party spokesperson Nils Schmid told Funke Mediengruppe that it is important that a reconciliation process “encompasses all parts of Syria, promotes the reconciliation of the various groups, and ensures their political participation through constitutional reform.”

As a first step, Schmid called on Assad to release political prisoners. This could help “prevent a new refugee movement,” which would also be in Turkey’s interests, he told the Rheinische Post.

Assad receives support from the Russian military and Iranian-backed forces, making it extremely difficult to increase political influence in Syria.

But the recent uprising shows that Assad’s supporters are weakened. As Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry noted in “Expect Dramatic Change in Syria”:

Iran’s stronghold in Syria is being weakened. And not just because of this insurgency. Israel has been conducting military operations in Syria to prevent Iranian arms supplies to Iran’s proxy Hezbollah. This comes just after Israel decimated Hezbollah in Lebanon. The fate of these two countries is closely linked.

One opposition figure from the Aleppo area told Israeli public tv yesterday, “Nobody knows if Iran and the regime would have been weakened without the recent Israeli attacks in Syria, which have allowed us to return and free the lands and the country.” These insurgents are very pleased with Israel’s actions in Lebanon.

Syria’s dictator, Bashar Assad, has been a close ally of Iran. But how long will Iran be able to keep protecting him? Hezbollah’s intervention earlier in the civil war is one reason Assad is still in power. It certainly seems this rebel uprising threatens to overturn the status quo.

There have been indications of Russia evacuating its naval vessels from Syria, which have been crucial in upholding the Assad regime. While Assad’s future remains uncertain, there is one thing we can say with certainty: Syria is about to break away from Iran and ally with the German-led EU.

The Trumpet has predicted this for decades based on a prophecy in Psalm 83 that speaks of an unusual alliance of various Middle Eastern nations and Germany. Mr. Flurry wrote in our August Trumpet issue: “Bible prophecy is clear: With or without Assad, Syria will break with Iran and ally with Germany!”

Read Mr. Flurry’s article “Iran Is Losing Syria to Germany” to understand these prophecies in detail.