EU agrees to begin lifting sanctions on Syria, as requested by Albares

Eduardo González The EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) has reached an agreement on Monday to begin lifting sanctions on Syria, in line with the proposal presented at this same meeting in Brussels by the head of Spanish diplomacy, José Manuel Albares. “Today we have reached a political agreement to begin easing sanctions on Syria,” a measure that “could give a boost to the Syrian economy and help the country to recover,” declared the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, at the press conference after the Council. “While our objective is to act quickly, we are also willing to reverse course if the situation worsens,” she warned. “At the same time, we will intensify humanitarian aid and recovery efforts,” she added. Regarding the specific sanctions that are beginning to be lifted, Kallas explained that priority has been given to “the sanctions that are most hindering the early construction of the country.” “What we are not easing, of course, is everything related to weapons and arms trafficking” because “we are still worried about radicalization and what may happen,” she clarified. “Therefore, at this moment we have a political decision, we have the roadmap, we have a step-by-step approach so that, if we see that some steps are going in the right direction, we are also willing to ease the next sanctions,” she added. José Manuel Albares assured on January 16 in Damascus that he would propose to his EU counterparts in Brussels the “progressive” lifting of sanctions on Syria as long as the “red lines” defended by Spain are met: “rights of women, of minorities, reintegration of all armed militias, avoiding external interference, guarantee of territorial integrity, arms control and destruction of synthetic drug laboratories.” Albares reiterated on Tuesday his intention to present the proposal. “I will advocate for a gradual lifting of sanctions against Syria,” because “they are sanctions that were imposed at other times, against the dictatorial regime of Al Assad, which is no longer in power,” he told the press before starting the FAC. “We have to lift very quickly, immediately those that affect the population, those of humanitarian aid, economic and reconstruction,” he continued. “It is different with those that affect chemical weapons, where we still need a more detailed study and a greater commitment from the Syrian authorities, and we also have to ensure that there is no foreign interference at this time in Syria,” he added. “It is clear that the lifting of sanctions is also a strong political sign of confidence that there is a peaceful, inclusive future, with equal rights for all Syrian citizens, men and women, regardless of their religion or ethnic origin, and if that were not the case, the sanctions could obviously be reversed,” he warned.

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