German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in Riyadh on Sunday for a regional conference on Syria, weeks after the overthrow of former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.
Also attending the conference in the Saudi capital was interim Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shibani.
What did Bareback say?
Speaking to reporters ahead of the conference, Baerbock said sanctions against Assad allies who “committed serious crimes” during the Syrian civil war should remain in place.
He called for a “smart approach” to easing sanctions against Syria.
“Syrians need quick dividends from the change of regime now, and we will continue to help those in Syria who have nothing, as we have done throughout the years of the civil war, from the extra €50 for food million ($51.3 million).” Emergency shelter and medical care,” Baerbock said.
Earlier this month, Baerbock visited Damascus and said that lifting EU sanctions on Syria would depend on the implementation of “an inclusive political process” in the country.
On January 7, The Financial Times It was reported that Germany was pressurizing the European Union to lift sanctions on Syria.
According to the United Nations, seven out of 10 Syrians need humanitarian aid after 13 years of civil war.
Syria’s new rulers are pushing for relaxation of sanctions
Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Shaara, who heads the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, part of the rebel coalition that overthrew Assad’s regime, called for Western states to ease sanctions to allow Syria to recover. Is insisting on.
Last Monday, the US Treasury Department said it would ease enforcement on sanctions affecting essential services, including energy and sanitation, while stressing that Washington would wait to see progress before extending sanctions further.
The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Sunday the bloc’s foreign ministers would meet in Brussels at the end of the month to discuss sanctions against Syria. He said Friday that sanctions could be lifted once Damascus begins to form an inclusive government that protects minority groups.
sdi/ab (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
