Speaking in February 2012 to the European Parliament, he praised the Arab League for its "strong leadership role...in the Syrian crisis". At a commemoration of the Day of Remembrance for victims of terrorist attacks in March 2012, Søvndal stressed that what is important is "countering terrorism" while "respecting human rights". In November 2012, he pledged Danish support to the Syrian rebels. He announced in February 2013 that Denmark would continue to work for the release of Danish-Bahraini human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, who was in prison in Bahrain, and called on that country to end its mistreatment of young demonstrators. In the same month he condemned North Korea's atomic-bomb test.