Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani on Monday said his country wants "calm and stable" relations with Israel but is fearful of "armed militias" operating from Lebanon.
He was visiting European Union institutions for the first EU-Syria high-level political dialogue since Brussels and Syria rekindled diplomatic relations after Bashar Al Assad's regime was toppled by rebels in late 2024.
"For the last year and a half, we've had threats from Israel and destabilisation of our country," Mr Al Shibani said, responding to a question from The National in Brussels.
"There were negotiations under US mediation," he added. "We've not reached any results yet but we hope we'll be able to have a calm and stable relationship with Israel."
The Syrian minister appeared to be referring to Israel's unilateral extension of a buffer zone in the Golan Heights and aerial strikes on Syrian military headquarters in Damascus in July 2025, when sectarian violence involving the Druze minority in Sweida.
"We hope we'll be able to have a calm and stable relationship with Israel because we want to focus on reconstruction and creating a safe environment for the return of Syrians to their country," Mr Al Shibani said.
He also called for reactivating a UN mission on the Israeli-Syrian border set up in 1974 after the Arab–Israeli War. The mission, Undof, has been seriously hampered since Israel's increased military presence in the Golan Heights. Its full restoration depends on Israel and Syria striking a new security agreement.
The EU announced it had restored a co-operation agreement with Syria that had been frozen following the brutal Assad regime crackdown against protesters in 2011.
This removes restrictions on imports of Syrian goods such as oil, petroleum products, gold, precious metals and diamonds.
Mr Al Shibani addressed relations with Syria's smaller neighbour, Lebanon, a country that the Assad regime dominated politically and occupied from 1976 to 2005.
"We consider Lebanon to be a neighbour and a partner to Syria," Mr Al Shibani said.
He described a visit by Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to Damascus on Saturday in a bid to strengthen ties with Syria as "fruitful".
Mr Al Shibani also appeared to take aim at Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah for plotting attacks on Syrian territory. "There are some armed militias working out of Lebanon outside the control of the authorities and this is worrying to us," he said. "They were part of this crisis in Syria and increased the suffering of the Syrians."
Hezbollah had close ties with the Assad regime but is viewed as a security threat by the current Sunni-dominated Syrian government.
Last week, authorities arrested 11 men linked to what Damascus described as a plot by Hezbollah to assassinate members of the Syrian government.
