Germany is leading efforts within the European Union (EU) to ease sanctions on Syria following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. financial Times Reported on Tuesday.
Berlin is pushing for the move within the bloc, provided it gets progress on social issues. foot Said.
The French AFP news agency, citing diplomats, also reported that Germany is seeking to ease EU sanctions on Syria.
What else do we know about the German proposal?
Shortly before Christmas, Berlin distributed two documents among EU capitals offering suggestions on where the bloc’s restrictions could be eased. foot said, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Such relief will come gradually and coincide with protection of the rights of minorities and women foot Reportedly, commitments to ensure the non-proliferation of weapons were maintained.
The reports come a day after the US issued a Syria General License for the purpose of “expansion”[ing] Authorization for sanctioned activities and transactions in Syria. The authorization is valid for six months, as Washington “continues to monitor the evolving situation on the ground.”
Berlin argued that the EU could also temporarily ease restrictions.
Western sanctions on Assad regime
The US and EU have imposed numerous sanctions on Syria, most of which were imposed over Assad’s brutal crackdown on 2011 protests that sparked the Syrian civil war.
Since their ouster last month, Syria’s new Islamist officials have called repeatedly for the US to lift those sanctions.
German and French foreign ministers Annalena Baerbock and Jean-Noël Barrot visited Syria last week, making them the first EU ministers to visit Syria since Assad’s ouster.
The pair met with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus.
Germany is considered to be the non-neighboring country with the largest number of Syrian refugees.
According to the German Federal Statistics Office, approximately 973,000 Syrians were living in Germany at the end of 2023. About 712,000 of them have been granted refugee status.
rmt/wd (AFP, Reuters)