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,
AL Jazeera reports.
“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.
