Jens Spahn, a senior member of Germany’s opposition Christian Democrats ( cdu ), suggested handing €1,000 ($1,050) to any Syrian who wished to go home. Austria’s government even instructed officials to prepare deportation plans.

By Karolina Tagaris, Edward McAllister, Riham Alkousaa ATHENS/BERLIN (Reuters) -Najem al-Moussa was delighted when news of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's overthrow first beamed from the television in his tiny Athens apartment.

As Syria enters the post-Assad era, EU policymakers need to learn from their failed approach to the country's civil war. The post Europe Needs to Update Its Thinking for a Post-Assad Syria appeared first on World Politics Review.

Several countries, including France and Germany, have announced that they are suspending decisions on asylum applications from Syria. Far-right parties, meanwhile, have re-opened a political and legal debate on refugee deportation.

While governments urge caution, calls are rising across Europe for Syrians who fled the Assad regime to return.

STORY: Najem al-Moussa and his family have been glued to the news of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's overthrow in their tiny Athens apartment.Although delighted he is gone, Moussa now fears his family will be forced to return to the devastated country they fled in 2015.

The fall of Assad's regime has forced the EU to reconsider its long-standing policy.

Syria has produced the largest number of migrants in Europe, the eighth annul report on asylum rights by the Catholic Migrantes Foundation said Wednesday. "Unfortunately, the Syrian situation has recently returned to the forefront,