The European Union lifted a wide range of sanctions on Syria on Wednesday.
The move lifted most sanctions that had been imposed on the country, including on its financial system, while keeping them in place on individuals and organizations in Syria it says violated human rights or for “security grounds,” like the extended family of former President Bashar al-Assad or its chemical weapons program, according to the text of the European Council on the decision.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas had announced plans to lift the sanctions last week. She said the move was “conditional” and that sanctions could be resumed if the new government of Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the charge that unseated Assad in December, doesn’t keep the peace.
Kallas said in a statement Wednesday that removing sanctions “is simply the right thing to do, at this historic time, for the EU to genuinely support Syria’s recovery and a political transition that fulfills the aspirations of all Syrians.”
Wednesday’s decision slapped “restrictive measures” on two people and three armed groups that were accused of “targeting civilians and especially the Alawite community” - referring to the religious minority to which Assad belongs - during violence in March on the coast and of torture and “arbitrary killings of civilians.”
Clashes erupted at the time after a group of Assad loyalists attacked security forces near the coastal city of Latakia. Rights groups reported widespread revenge killings. Hundreds of civilians were killed.
The new government in Damascus has promised to hold perpetrators accountable, but a body formed to investigate the violence has yet to release its findings.
The lifting of the broader sanctions on Syria comes days after the United States granted Syria sweeping exemptions from sanctions in a first step toward fulfilling President Donald Trump’s pledge to lift a half-century of penalties on a country shattered by 14 years of civil war. A measure by the US State Department waived for six months a tough set of sanctions imposed by Congress in 2019.
The easing of sanctions removes one of the major barriers to reconstruction of the country, which the United Nations in 2017 estimated would cost at least $250 billion. Some experts now say that number could reach at least $400 billion.
The United Nations estimates that 90% of Syrians live in poverty and state-supplied electricity comes as little as two hours every day.
