The European Union would suspend some sanctions against Syria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced.
We will decide today to … suspend certain sanctions on the energy and transport sectors as well as financial institutions.
Barrot made the statement on Monday, ahead of an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas also confirmed that a decision on “easing sanctions” on Syria was expected on Monday.
In return, Syrian authorities will start a democratic transition process and get rid of the chemical weapons of ousted President Bashar al-Assad‘s administration. Syria will also launch “a political transition that includes all Syrians” to fight back “any resurgence of ISIS.”
After the fall of the Assad government, Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock travelled to Syria in early January to meet with the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Abu Mohammed al-Golani. HTS continues to be a terrorist organisation in the EU, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warning that a change of government in Syria “offers opportunities but is not without risks.”
