EU should reconsider sanctions against Syria, says Ursula von der Leyen
The EU should reconsider its sanctions against Syria to help the country's reconstruction. But Syria would have to make "real progress towards an inclusive political process" for that to happen, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday.
"We should reconsider our sectoral sanctions in order to promote reconstruction. For that we need to see real progress towards an inclusive political process. Europe has levers in Syria. And we should use them to give power back to the Syrian people," von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
"Europe has levers in Syria. And we should use them to give power back to the Syrian people"
Extensive sanctions
Since the start of the civil war in 2011, the EU has introduced extensive sanctions to put pressure on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. These include an arms embargo, a ban on oil imports, an export ban on equipment and technology that could be used for repression, and a freeze on the assets of the Syrian Central Bank. They are currently in place until June 2025.
Now that al-Assad's regime has collapsed, the EU is looking at how it can increase its presence in the country and contribute to reconstruction. "But this has to be done step by step. The new leadership in Damascus must prove that its words are backed up by deeds," said the Commission president.
The EU made initial contacts earlier this week with the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the driving force behind the overthrow of al-Assad. The organisation is on the UN terror list and therefore subject to European sanctions.
No more Russian influence
The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Siim Kallas, stressed on Monday that concrete steps "in the right direction" must be taken before the lifting of sanctions could be considered. One condition could be that the leadership "gets rid of Russian influence".
On Tuesday, von der Leyen visited Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and announced the EU is releasing 1 billion euros to help Syrian refugees in the country.
PHOTO © FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP
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