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EU's Kallas Says Happy to Read about Macron's Syria Sanctions Relief Proposal

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister at the EU Foreign Ministers informal meeting in Gymnich format, in Warsaw, Poland, on May 8, 2025. (AFP)
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister at the EU Foreign Ministers informal meeting in Gymnich format, in Warsaw, Poland, on May 8, 2025. (AFP)
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EU's Kallas Says Happy to Read about Macron's Syria Sanctions Relief Proposal

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister at the EU Foreign Ministers informal meeting in Gymnich format, in Warsaw, Poland, on May 8, 2025. (AFP)
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks during a joint press conference with Poland's Foreign Affairs Minister at the EU Foreign Ministers informal meeting in Gymnich format, in Warsaw, Poland, on May 8, 2025. (AFP)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday that she was happy to read that France's President Emmanuel Macron had proposed sanctions relief for Syria.

Macron said on Wednesday he would urge the EU to end sanctions on Syria when they come up for renewal in June.

"We have currently the ongoing discussions about the sanctions relief on Syria, and I was happy to read that actually President Macron is in favor of the relief of sanctions," Kallas told reporters in Warsaw.

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Iraq Reopens Syria Crossing for Trade, Passenger Traffic

A general view shows the US Embassy as seen from across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
A general view shows the US Embassy as seen from across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
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Iraq Reopens Syria Crossing for Trade, Passenger Traffic

A general view shows the US Embassy as seen from across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
A general view shows the US Embassy as seen from across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

Iraq has officially reopened the Qaim border crossing with Syria for trade and passenger traffic, a spokesman for the Iraqi border authority said on Saturday, marking a key step in efforts to normalize relations and revive economic ties between the two countries.

“The Qaim crossing is now fully operational for both cargo trucks and civilian movement,” the spokesman told Reuters, adding that the reopening followed joint security assessments by Iraqi and Syrian officials.

The move comes three months after Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani visited Baghdad and urged Iraq to resume cross-border trade. The crossing had been shut in the wake of the revolt that toppled President Bashar al-Assad and the ensuing years of conflict that destabilized the region.

The reopening is also seen as a sign of warming ties between Baghdad and Syria’s new leadership under President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has sought to re-establish diplomatic and economic relations with regional neighbors. Iraqi officials say the two governments have intensified coordination on border security and trade facilitation since al-Sharaa took office last year.

“This crossing will serve as a strategic corridor for commodity trade between Iraq and Syria,” said Turki al-Mahallawi, mayor of the town of al-Qaim, where the border post is located.