BRUSSELS: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has proposed a further loosening of European sanctions on Syria to allow funding for Syrian ministries in areas including reconstruction and migration, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The move comes after US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would order the lifting of sanctions on Syria.
EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss the relationship with Damascus at a meeting in Brussels next week.
The EU has already eased sanctions related to energy, transport, and reconstruction, as well as associated financial transactions, but some member states have pushed for further relief to help smooth Syria’s transition.
French President Emmanuel Macron said this month, after hosting Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa, that Paris would push the EU to end its sanctions when they come up for renewal.
The bulk of sanctions imposed since 2013 are renewed annually on June 1.
With the World Bank estimating Syria’s reconstruction costs at more than $250 billion, Syria’s new authorities have been lobbying European countries for relief from the tough Western sanctions imposed on the former government of Bashar Assad.
Under the new proposal, dated May 14, the EU would allow member states to provide funding to Syria’s ministries of defense and interior for cooperation “in the areas of reconstruction, capacity-building, counterterrorism and migration,” the document said.
A special provision would allow EU member states more room for maneuver in dealing with Syrian state-owned entities when it comes to the destruction of chemical weapons.
The new proposal would lift sanctions on the Commercial Bank of Syria, while retaining measures targeting individuals linked to Assad’s former administration.
Officials are also discussing whether to lift sanctions on Syria’s central bank, three diplomats said.
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Austria have circulated a joint document, seen by Reuters, calling for lifting sanctions on Syria’s central bank and financial institutions.
“The objective is to provide additional space for socio-economic recovery,” the four countries wrote.
Prominent Syrian human rights lawyer Mazen Darwish said lasting peace in Syria depends on the country building a strong judicial system, giving justice to the victims of all crimes committed during the Bashar Assad era.
“We believe that the Syrians who paid the heavy cost to reach this moment will not accept changing one dictatorship into another,” Mazen Darwish said in an interview in Stockholm.
He is one of the most high-profile rights advocates for Syria.
Darwish was in Stockholm with his wife Yara Bader to receive an award for their work running the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression.
