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EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaking to Rudaw in Brussels on January 27, 2025. Photo: Rudaw
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The European Union is considering easing sanctions on Syria to assist the new government in rebuilding the country following the fall of Bashar al-Assad, a senior EU official stated on Monday.
“We expect to reach a decision today to put together a road map to ease the sanctions. So it is clear that we go step by step, so we start with the sanctions that they need most to really start to build up the country, and then we see if the steps are going to the right direction,” European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas told Rudaw.
Both the UN and EU imposed strict sanctions on the Syrian regime for its violent crackdown on what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011, which evolved into a full-blown civil war.
“We are also willing to make steps on our behalf,” Kallas added.
A coalition of rebels led by the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad on December 8 in a blistering offensive, and have sought to open up the country to foreign investment and to lift sanctions.
On Saturday, Minister of State at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office Tobias Lindner told Rudaw that Berlin is ready to alleviate some sanctions on Syria and “engage in early recovery and reconstruction” given prior conditions are met.
Earlier in January, the US eased authorizations for humanitarian transactions in Syria but maintained sanctions.
Znar Shino contributed to this report.
“We expect to reach a decision today to put together a road map to ease the sanctions. So it is clear that we go step by step, so we start with the sanctions that they need most to really start to build up the country, and then we see if the steps are going to the right direction,” European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas told Rudaw.
Both the UN and EU imposed strict sanctions on the Syrian regime for its violent crackdown on what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011, which evolved into a full-blown civil war.
“We are also willing to make steps on our behalf,” Kallas added.
A coalition of rebels led by the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad on December 8 in a blistering offensive, and have sought to open up the country to foreign investment and to lift sanctions.
On Saturday, Minister of State at Germany’s Federal Foreign Office Tobias Lindner told Rudaw that Berlin is ready to alleviate some sanctions on Syria and “engage in early recovery and reconstruction” given prior conditions are met.
Earlier in January, the US eased authorizations for humanitarian transactions in Syria but maintained sanctions.
Znar Shino contributed to this report.
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