The European Council confirmed the move while calling on Syria’s new leadership to safeguard the rights of minority groups.
EU foreign ministers have agreed to lift economic sanctions on Syria, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said.
“We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria,” Kallas wrote on social media platform X after a May 20 meeting with EU foreign ministers in Brussels. “The EU has always stood by Syrians throughout the last 14 years—and will keep doing so.”
In a separate statement released the same day, the European Council confirmed the decision.
“Following the fall of the Assad regime, the EU has adopted a gradual and reversible approach in order to support Syria’s transition and economic recovery,” the council said.
“In February, the EU suspended some of its economic sanctions. In line with this approach, the EU announces the political decision to lift its economic sanctions on Syria”
The move follows a similar decision by U.S. President Donald Trump, who made a landmark visit to Saudi Arabia last week.
During the visit, Trump announced that longstanding U.S. sanctions on Syria, which had targeted the country’s former regime, would be lifted.
Rights Concerns
Last December, the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was toppled by an offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a terrorist organization with previous ties to the al-Qaeda terrorist group.
HTS began as al-Nusra Front and was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in 2018.
Since December, Syria’s new transitional government, led by HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, has sought to consolidate its political authority.
Sharaa, who used the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, was previously the subject of a $10 million bounty by the United States. The bounty was lifted after Assad was ousted.
In recent months, post-Assad Syria has been plagued by sectarian violence, raising concerns about the transitional government’s ability to ensure the safety of minority groups.
By Adam Morrow
