The EU agrees to lift all economic sanctions on Syria

BrusselsNew gesture of confidence from the European Union to Syrian interim president Ahmed al SharaaThe European bloc agreed this Tuesday to lift all economic sanctions against Syria with the intention of facilitating and contributing to the country's recovery following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime. In fact, since then, EU leaders have openly advocated giving the country's new leaders a chance and have continued to take steps to gradually lift European restrictions against Syria.

However, the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, warned in a press conference that this is not an irrevocable agreement and put several conditions on the table. "This is a reversible decision and is conditional on Syria's progress," Kallas said at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council press conference this Tuesday in Brussels. In this regard, the head of European diplomacy defended the advisability of the European bloc contributing to Syria's economic recovery, since it is "the only path to peace." "We all need a stable Syria," he insisted.

Thus, the European bloc has lifted the sanctions it had imposed against some of the country's most important banking institutions, such as Banco Industrial, Banco Popular de Crédito, and Caja de Ahorro, as well as Syrian Airlines. In this way, the EU has removed them from what is known as the blacklist, and therefore, their funds and economic resources will no longer be frozen within the EU. However, the Member States have agreed to maintain the restrictive measures against Assad and his closest entourage, whom they hold particularly responsible for committing violations of humanitarian and international law.

In fact, the EU already introduced exceptions last February in the ban on Syrian banking and financial institutions' relations with other entities located in EU territory. Therefore, Tuesday's agreement by the EU Foreign Affairs Council represents the final step toward lifting all of the European Club's economic sanctions on Syria that remained in effect. "The road to recovery is still long, but Europe is ready to work with Syria," tweeted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.