BRUSSELS: EU foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to lift the bloc’s last remaining economic sanctions on the new administration in Syria.
“We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria,” foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. “The EU has always stood by Syrians throughout the past 14 years, and will keep doing so.”
Europe had already eased some sanctions related to energy, transport and reconstruction, as well as associated financial transactions, but many member states felt those measures were insufficient to support Syria’s political transition and economic recovery.
US President Donald Trump ordered the end of American sanctions on Syria during a visit to Riyadh this month. Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani said the moves showed “regional and international will to support Syria.”
He said: “The Syrian people today have a very important and historic opportunity to rebuild their country. The plan today is to benefit from the lifting of sanctions. Anyone who wants to invest in Syria, the doors are open; anyone who wants to cooperate with Syria, there are no sanctions.”
Al-Shaibani spoke on a visit to Jordan, where the two countries signed a new cooperation agreement on energy, water, industry, trade, transport and health. Syria was “in a new phase, and Syria’s success requires giving it a chance to succeed,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said.
