France’s Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot has revealed that some European Union sanctions on Syria will be lifted as part of a broader EU move to help stabilise Damascus after the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December.
This came as EU Foreign Ministers discussed the matter at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, January 27, 2025.
European Union foreign ministers agreed to take steps towards easing sanctions on Syria.
EU Foreign Affairs Chief, Kaja Kallas wrote on X, “While we aim to move fast, the lifting of sanctions can be reversed if wrong steps are taken.”
Barrot said on arrival at the meeting in Brussels that the Ministers were going to decide today to lift, to suspend, certain sanctions that had applied to the energy and transport sectors and to financial institutions that were key to the financial stabilisation of the country.”
Al-Assad, whose family ruled Syria with an iron fist for 54 years, was toppled by a lightning offensive on December 8, bringing an abrupt end to a devastating 13-year war.
The conflict left large parts of Syria’s major cities in ruins and the vast majority of the population living in poverty.
Al-Assad’s use of torture chambers and chemical weapons during the war turned the country into a pariah state.
The United States and the EU introduced a series of crippling sanctions on Syria in 2011, denying Damascus access to capital markets and trade revenues.
Western restrictions in effect cut off Syria’s formal economy from the rest of the world.
The EU is now preparing to roll back its sanctions in stages.
The EU has called for Syria’s new authorities to implement an “inclusive” political process and respect human rights, including those of Syria’s ethnic and religious minority groups.
Meanwhile, Julien Barnes-Dacey, a Director at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told a news agency that there will be a “strong sense of conditionality” applied on the lifting of sanctions.
He added that the EU wants to give Syria’s new government financial relief while creating time to determine whether the coalition led by former rebels Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) will evolve in a way that is consistent with human rights and democratic norms.
“The idea is to create the conditions for a positive transition but Europeans want to lock in a snap-back option, so that if HTS does not move forward with an inclusive transition, those sanctions can come back into play.”
Julien Barnes-Dacey
He also warned that the lifting of sanctions imposed by the US will be crucial to easing Syria’s multiple crises.
“European sanctions by themselves won’t be a fundamental game-changer. … US sanctions are really scaring off foreign finance flows and international business.
“Moving towards reconstruction and redevelopment, you would need US and European action in tandem.”
Julien Barnes-Dacey
Sanctions On Russia To Be Renewed
Barrot also said that a deal had been struck under which Hungary would accept the renewal of sanctions on Russia. “The sanctions will be renewed,” the French Foreign Minister said.
Later on Monday, the bloc’s foreign ministers agreed to renew the sanctions on Moscow.
In order for the penalties on Moscow to continue, the EU’s 27 member states had to unanimously approve the rollover by January 31.
Budapest had said it wanted to wait for the inauguration of US Donald Trump before agreeing to the continuation of the sanctions regime.
Trump had previously called for a negotiated settlement between Kyiv and Moscow to end Russia’s invasion.
On Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban threatened to veto the renewal, calling on the EU to pressure Ukraine to reopen a gas pipeline supplying Hungary and other Central European states.
Ukraine allowed its gas transit agreement with Russia to expire on New Year’s Day.
A news agency cited diplomats as saying that the EU had agreed to read out a statement on Hungary’s energy security in exchange for Budapest’s support for the extension.
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