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EU announces the relaxation of the Syria sanctions

The EU foreign ministers want to support the reconstruction in Syria with loosened sanctions. At the same time, they emphasize that the situation continues to observe.

The European Union plans to gradually relax sanctions against Syria. The Foreign Minister of the EU countries agreed on this after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad. The procedure agreed at a meeting in Brussels provides to give the new rulers incentives to build a democracy in Syria. There is also hope that hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees can one day return to their homeland in the EU.

The EU foreign commissioner Kaja Kallas, the loosening should make it easier to reconcile and help the country get back on their feet. At the same time, she also emphasized that the plan also contains to reverse loosening when the new rulers take steps that go in the “wrong direction” from an EU perspective.

Relaxation in the areas of energy, traffic and finance

According to the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, punitive measures against the energy sector, the transport and financial institutions are to be lifted. Kallas also promised the reopening of the EU representation in Damascus.

The German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) spoke of good news for the people of Syria, but also for the Europeans. According to them, Germany will provide a further three million euros for the work of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Syria. “We want people in Syria to have electricity again, that they can get the economy back on their feet,” she said.

Baerbock: “No blank checks”

At the same time, Baerbock emphasized that the loosening of sanctions was “not a blank check” for the new Islamist leadership under the HTS militia. The EU will also not be a donor “for new extremist, terrorist or Islamist structures”. According to Brussels, the EU's weapon embargo against the country wants to maintain information in any case.

As an example of a company that could benefit from sanction loosening, Baerbock named a Siemens power plant for electricity generation, which could not be serviced with support from Germany for years.

Oil industry in the focus of the sanctions

From 2011, the EU had imposed sanctions against Syria in response to the government's violent procedure against the civilian population. These were also directed against economic sectors, from which the circle of power around Assad benefited.

The EU measures include a ban on investments in the Syrian oil industry and in companies that are involved in the construction of power plants for electricity generation in Syria. In addition, the sanction package includes an import ban for crude oil from Syria and other export restrictions. The Syrian airline Syrian Arab Airlines is also subject to sanctions.

If the political climate in Syria deteriorates, the EU sanctions can be used automatically according to the decision. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights recently reported numerous victims of alleged revenge files among former Assad supporters.

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