The EU's foreign affairs ministers on Monday reached a political agreement to begin easing sanctions on Syria, the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said.
“This could give a boost to the Syrian economy and help the country get back on its feet. While we aim to move fast, we are also ready to reverse the course if the situation worsens,” Ms Kallas said in Brussels.
Technical details still need to be discussed, Ms Kallas said. She added that she hoped “these issues will be solved in the [next] weeks”.
“We have a step [by] step approach, so that if we see some steps going in the right direction, we are also willing to ease these sanctions,” Ms Kallas said. Earlier in the day, she also said that Brussels was ready to re-open its embassy in Damascus.
Speaking before the meeting, several EU ministers said that the priority would be to ease sanctions on the energy sector. “Today, we will decide to suspend certain sanctions that apply to the energy sector, transport, or financial institutions and that are currently hindering the economic stabilisation of the country and the start of the reconstruction process,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.
The EU expects that Syrian authorities will, in return, include religious and ethnic minorities in their political transition in addition to fighting ISIS and destroying the former Assad regime's chemical weapons.
France, which will host a meeting in support of Syria next month, has led, alongside Germany, the EU's diplomatic engagement with Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, which took over Damascus on December 8.
'Not a blank cheque'
Syria's new leaders have been advocating a full lifting of sanctions. While the US moved earlier this month to ease restrictions on Syria to boost humanitarian aid, it did not lift its sanctions regime on the country, which also targets HTS. “Removing the economic sanctions is the key for stability of Syria,” the country's Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani said in Davos last week.
Speaking in Brussels, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for investments in Syria's electricity sector, which is plagued by hours-long power cuts.
“We want the people in Syria to have electricity again, so they can get the economy on their feet again,” said Ms Baerbock, who visited Damascus with Mr Barrot on January 3. “But … we also need a political process. It's not a blank cheque.”
By easing sanctions, the EU is extending a message of confidence to the new administration in Damascus, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said. “The message is that we want to open the door, and at the same time we want to open [our] eyes,” he said.
Mr Tajani said he had invited Mr Al Shibani to Rome “to strengthen co-operation”. Italian entrepreneurs are ready to invest in Syria's reconstruction, he added.
Syria's change in leadership has also raised questions about the future of an autonomous region in north-east Syria controlled by Kurdish groups. The US and France regard the Kurds as an ally in the fight against ISIS but Turkey views them as a terrorist threat.
“There needs to be political solution that respects the rights of the Kurdish people while taking into account the security interests of Turkey,” Mr Barrot said. “But that needs to be a peaceful process that respects and takes into account the fact that Kurds have played a significant role in the fight against ISIS and the fact that terrorist fighters of ISIS are now placed in prisons rather than spreading insecurity in Syria and Europe.”
EU diplomats have also been discussing a so-called snapback mechanism – a reinstatement of sanctions – if human rights abuses were to take place. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said that recent visits to Damascus by his European counterparts had paved the way to an “informed conversation around the issue of sanctions”.
“But it is vital that any discussion about that also has a snapback mechanism so that if things do go off-kilter, there is an ability to immediately reinstate sanctions,” Mr Harris said. “That is a prudent way to respond.”
