Despite ‘Fatigue’, Donors Pledge Another $6.7 Billion for Syria, Neighbors

A general view shows the room in which European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a meeting, Supporting the future of Syria and the region, at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (AP)
A general view shows the room in which European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a meeting, Supporting the future of Syria and the region, at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (AP)
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Despite ‘Fatigue’, Donors Pledge Another $6.7 Billion for Syria, Neighbors

A general view shows the room in which European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a meeting, Supporting the future of Syria and the region, at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (AP)
A general view shows the room in which European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a meeting, Supporting the future of Syria and the region, at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, May 10, 2022. (AP)

An international donor conference raised $6.7 billion for Syria and its neighbors on Tuesday despite what the European Union's foreign policy chief said was "a certain fatigue" with the war there, now its 12th year.

The pledges, which were slightly higher than the United Nations' appeal for $6.1 billion, were made at the conference bringing together 55 countries in Brussels but excluding Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine. Moscow calls it a "special military operation."

"We are not forgetting the Syrian people and the situation in Syria," the EU's Josep Borrell said. "Certainly Syria and the suffering of its people might not be at the center of the news anymore. There's a certain fatigue after 11 years," he said.

What started as peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule in Syria in 2011 spiraled into a multi-sided conflict sucking in Russia, Iran, Turkey and other countries, killing as many as half a million people.

Borrell said almost all Syrians now live in poverty. According to the United Nations, more than 6.9 million people have fled their homes inside the country, and over 6.5 million remain outside Syria, of whom 5.7 million are refugees in the region, still being hosted by neighbors.

Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, will also benefit from the humanitarian assistance, which is not designed to rebuild Syria.

Borrell also said Russia had not been invited to the conference, which has become an annual event to raise funds.

"Russia has not been invited because we are inviting those partners who have a genuine, real interest to contribute to peace in the world," he said.

"The US and the European Union, along with many other partners, will continue sending a clear message of rejection of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine in all international fora," Borrell told a news conference.

Moscow says the war in Ukraine is a battle against dangerous "Nazi"-inspired nationalists in Ukraine to defend Russia against the West.



Switzerland Lifts Economic Sanctions on Syria

A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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Switzerland Lifts Economic Sanctions on Syria

A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)

Switzerland said on Friday it will lift a raft of economic sanctions imposed on Syria, including the Middle Eastern country's central bank.

After the toppling of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, targeted sanctions against individuals and entities linked to the former government will still remain in place, Switzerland's governing Federal Council said.

"The aim of this decision is to promote the country's economic recovery and an inclusive and peaceful political transition," the council said in a statement.

After an initial easing of sanctions in March, Switzerland is now lifting restrictions on the provision of certain financial services, trade in precious metals and the export of luxury goods, the government said.

Some 24 entities including the central bank of Syria have also been removed from the sanctions list, it added.

The announcement follows the EU's decision to lift its economic sanctions on Syria at the end of May after a similar move by the US Treasury Department in the same month.