European Union foreign ministers agreed on Tuesday to lift the remaining economic sanctions on Syria, hoping to help the nation recover as it tries to find stable footing after years of war and the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.
“We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria,” Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, posted on social media. “The E.U. has always stood by Syrians throughout the last 14 years — and will keep doing so.”
European officials have been working to pare sanctions on Syria since January, hoping to give Syria’s new government some relief while allowing time to assess whether the new Syrian power structure would evolve in a way that is consistent with E.U. values.
The move to remove sanctions comes a week after President Trump announced that America would lift its sanctions on Syria, an economic game changer for the war-torn country and one that has been met with jubilation.
Together, the removal of American and European sanctions could help reinvigorate Syria’s economy, allowing investment in local businesses and bolstering stability as the nation tries to rebuild after nearly 14 year of civil war.
Syria has conducted very little trade with Europe in recent years, largely because of a sweeping sanctions program that the European Union began to construct shortly after an uprising that started in 2011 against decades of authoritarian rule by the Assad family. Europe’s sanctions have included an oil embargo, export and import restrictions on some technology, and strict financial limitations.
The bloc said it would maintain weapons-related sanctions “based on security grounds, including arms and technology that might be used for internal repression.”
Even as Europe began lifting some sanctions this year, few businesses or regional governments had been willing to invest in the country under the burden of U.S. sanctions — and without knowing if it would raise the ire of Mr. Trump.
But America’s surprise move — and the possibility of a rapid deterioration on the ground in Syria — seemed to have combined to galvanize the European Union. Syria’s president, Ahmed al-Shara, met with President Emmanuel Macron of France a few weeks ago. At that time, Mr. Macron was still speaking in support of a gradual removal of European sanctions.
There was a reason for that cautious stance: European Union policymakers have remained alert to the possibility that the new Syrian government could go in the wrong direction. But they have also increasingly taken the view that keeping the sanctions could be self-defeating if they cause so much economic pain that they pave the way for instability.
“There are worries about whether the government is going in the right direction,” Ms. Kallas, the E.U. diplomat, said on Tuesday. “But I think we do not have a choice. We actually either give them the possibility to stabilize the country, or we do not do that.”
Ms. Kallas was asked during a news conference on Tuesday whether the removal of sanctions on Syria had come in response to Mr. Trump’s recent announcement. The diplomat pushed back on that idea.
“We as the European Union are not as good as selling all these decisions we have made,” she said, noting that the bloc had been working on dialing back the restrictions for months.
Europeans are not alone in worrying that the situation could deteriorate in Syria. Marco Rubio, the U.S. secretary of state, warned senators on Tuesday that Syria could be “weeks” from sliding into a “full-scale civil war of epic proportions.” Mr. Rubio, who suggested that preventing such upheaval was what drove the U.S. decision on sanctions, recently met with his Syrian counterpart while both were in Turkey.
Mr. Trump, who met last week with Syria’s leader, said afterward that Mr. al-Shara had “a real shot at pulling it together,” but that Syria was “a torn-up country.”
Mr. al-Shara has sought to remake his image since taking power. He once led a branch of Al Qaeda before breaking ties with the jihadist group, and the United States designates the rebel organization he led during the civil war, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as a terrorist organization.
But Syria has struggled with sectarian violence in recent weeks, and Syrian minorities have remained on edge.
Still, sanctions relief could offer hope in a nation where more than 90 percent of the population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations.
“We are committed to supporting a peaceful and inclusive, Syrian-led and Syrian-owned transition to help build a better future,” António Costa, the president of the European Council, wrote on social media Tuesday evening.
Jeanna Smialek is the Brussels bureau chief for The Times.
The post E.U. to Lift Economic Sanctions on Syria in a Bid to Bolster Stability appeared first on New York Times.
