EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she expected the bloc to agree Monday to begin easing sanctions on Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. Brussels says it is now willing to ease sanctions on the expectation the new authorities make good on commitments to form an inclusive transition.

A six-phase “road map” prepared by the EU’s foreign service advocates a “staged approach” to lifting sanctions on the country “to incentivise peaceful transition and reconstruction”. An arms embargo, sanctions on equipment used for internal repression and measures targeting Assad regime officials would be exempt, the document states.

France is lifting some sanctions against Syria, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters on Monday as top diplomats from the European Union met in Brussels to discuss a coordinated

The European Union may soon suspend sanctions on Syria related to energy and transport but has yet to agree on whether to ease restrictions on financial transactions, according to three diplomats and a document seen by Reuters.

EU sanctions include bans on oil imports from Syria, as well as a ban on investment in the Syrian oil industry and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in the EU. The proposed roadmap indicates some existing sanctions, including those related to arms and entities linked to the Assad regime, would not be suspended.

Six member states of the European Union have called for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking, according to a paper seen by Reuters.

FILE PHOTO: EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas looks on, during her visit to attend a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Under Assad, Syria became one of the most heavily sanctioned countries in the world. After Assad, the EU wants to inject fresh dynamism. View on euronews