KEY POINTS
- EU foreign ministers agree to a roadmap for easing sanctions on Syria, with conditions for reimposing them if abuses occur.
- Initial relief will focus on key sectors like energy, infrastructure, and banking.
- Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa remains under EU sanctions.
- EU ministers emphasise scaling up humanitarian aid while monitoring Syria’s leadership.
BRUSSELS: European Union foreign ministers on Monday agreed to begin easing sanctions on Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, as the West looks to build bridges with the country’s new leadership. However, the 27-nation bloc insisted that the measures should be reimposed if they see any abuses by the country’s new rulers.
The United States and the EU introduced a series of sanctions on Syria in 2011, denying Damascus access to capital markets and trade revenues. Western restrictions in effect cut off Syria’s formal economy from the rest of the world.
The EU started to impose asset freezes and travel bans on Syrian officials and organisations. The bloc targeted 316 people and 86 entities accused of backing Syria’s former ruler.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said foreign ministers had agreed on a “roadmap” for easing sanctions. Speaking after chairing the meeting, she said, the aim was to lift those measures that are most hindering the early buildup of the country and to move from there.
“This could give a boost to the Syrian economy and help the country get back on its feet,” Kallas said.
“While we aim to move fast, we also are ready to reverse the course if the situation worsens, and in parallel, we will scale up humanitarian aid and recovery efforts.”
The 27-nation EU imposed wide-ranging sanctions on the Assad government and Syria’s economy during its civil war.
Kallas said ministers had signed up to a “roadmap” for lifting the sanctions starting with key sectors such as energy where relief is needed most urgently.
She underlined that the ministers had only reached “a political agreement” – not one to start easing the measures immediately – and that “there are also technical issues to be solved” in the weeks ahead before any sanctions can be lifted.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the EU could begin by suspending sanctions on the energy, transport and banking sectors.
Europe is keen to help the reconstruction of Syria and build better ties with its new rulers after the end of the Assad family’s five-decade rule.
But some EU countries worry about moving too fast to embrace the new leadership in Damascus.
The EU will only suspend the sanctions and not lift them definitively to maintain leverage over the Syrian leadership.
Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and the group he led, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, remain under EU sanctions.
Diplomats said there was still no discussion about lifting those designations, as with others on the Assad regime.
“What we are not relieving, of course, is anything related to arms dealing, and everything that we are still concerned about,” Kallas said.
We meet with EU Foreign Ministers at a critical time today.
On the agenda: Belarus, hybrid threats, Ukraine, Middle East, Syria.
My doorstep ↓ pic.twitter.com/sgBx0TTD1W
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) January 27, 2025
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said the aim would be to lift restrictions on things like Syria’s infrastructure and energy sector “so that the country can develop itself again.” He said that “certain sanctions will stay in place, such as (on) weapons exports.”
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Since Damascus fell on December 8 and Assad fled to Moscow, Syria’s transition has appeared promising, but the new leadership has yet to lay out a clear vision of how the country will be governed.
Veldkamp said that the restrictions on HTS itself would not be eased initially. “They’re the new ones in power. We want to see how their words are translated into actions,” he told reporters.
