The European Union has lifted economic sanctions on Syria in a bid to help the war-torn country’s recovery, the 27-nation bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said, offering the nation another critical lifeline after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
“We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria,” Kallas said in a post on X following meetings with ministers in Brussels. “The EU has always stood by Syrians throughout the last 14 years – and will keep doing so.”
The European Union’s policy shift comes after an announcement by the United States last week that it is lifting sanctions on Damascus.
Syria’s Foreign Minister Assad al-Shaibani thanked the EU on Tuesday, saying the decision would bolster Syria’s security and stability.
Reporting earlier from EU headquarters, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra described the agreement to lift the sanctions as a “really significant” development.
“It’s first of all an acknowledgement that the EU recognises the authority which is operating now in Syria, and that there need to be more financial transactions to pave the way for the creation of financial stability and improve the living standards of the people in Syria,” he said.
Sanctions were levied during al-Assad’s presidency in 2012 and 2013 and concern the transport, energy and banking sectors, Ahelbarra said.
The country’s new leadership has urged the West to ease the restrictions to help Syria recover from years of despotic rule and civil war.
EU diplomats told the AFP news agency that the agreement should see the lifting of sanctions cutting Syrian banks off from the global system and freezing central bank assets.
But diplomats said the bloc was intending to impose new individual sanctions on those responsible for stirring ethnic tensions, following deadly attacks targeting the Alawite minority.
Other measures targeting the al-Assad regime and prohibiting the sale of weapons or equipment that could be used to repress civilians were set to remain in place.
The latest move from the EU comes after its first step in February, suspending some sanctions on key Syrian economic sectors.
Officials said those measures could be reimposed if Syria’s new leaders break promises to respect the rights of minorities and move towards democracy.
“The European Union wants to make a fresh start with Syria … but we also expect an inclusive policy within the country that includes all population groups and religious groups,” Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in a written statement.
“It is important to us that a united Syria can thus take its future into its own hands,” he added.
