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French Defense Minister Celebrates New Year with French Troops in Lebanon

The French minister listens to an officer in the French troops during his visit on Saturday (AFP)
The French minister listens to an officer in the French troops during his visit on Saturday (AFP)
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French Defense Minister Celebrates New Year with French Troops in Lebanon

The French minister listens to an officer in the French troops during his visit on Saturday (AFP)
The French minister listens to an officer in the French troops during his visit on Saturday (AFP)

French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu on Saturday checked on the UNIFIL’s French peacekeepers in southern Lebanon upon his arrival in Beirut.

The minister, on a several-day official visit to Lebanon, spent New Year’s Eve with the French troops and will inspect the Beirut Port explosion site.

He is also scheduled to meet with Lebanese officials including the defense minister, the speaker, and the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, according to the French Embassy in Beirut.

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EU Says It Is Ready to Ease Sanctions on Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas (L) pose for a photo during their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 24 January 2025. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas (L) pose for a photo during their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 24 January 2025. (EPA)
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EU Says It Is Ready to Ease Sanctions on Syria

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas (L) pose for a photo during their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 24 January 2025. (EPA)
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas (L) pose for a photo during their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, 24 January 2025. (EPA)

The European Union’s foreign policy chief said the 27-member bloc is ready to ease sanctions on Syria, but added the move would be a gradual one contingent on the transitional Syrian government’s actions.

Speaking during a joint news conference in Ankara with Türkiye's foreign minister on Friday, Kaja Kallas also said the EU was considering introducing a “fallback mechanism” that would allow it to reimpose sanctions if the situation in Syria worsens.

“If we see the steps of the Syrian leadership going to the right direction, then we are also willing to ease next level of sanctions,” she said. “We also want to have a fallback mechanism. If we see that the developments are going to the wrong direction, we are also putting the sanctions back.”

The top EU diplomat said the EU would start by easing sanctions that are necessary to rebuild the country that has been battered by more than a decade of civil war.

The plan to ease sanctions on Syria would be discussed at a EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday, Kallas said.