Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 22, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
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EU's Kallas seeks a political agreement on easing Syria sanctions at an upcoming Brussels meeting, amid discussions on economic measures.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday she hopes a political agreement on easing Syria sanctions can be reached at a gathering of European ministers next week.
EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Syria during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27.
European officials began rethinking their approach towards Syria after Bashar al-Assad was ousted as president by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which the United Nations designates as a terrorist group.
Some European capitals want to move quickly to suspend economic sanctions in a signal of support for the transition in Damascus. Others have sought to ensure that even if some sanctions are eased, Brussels retains leverage in its relationship with the new Syrian authorities.
“We are ready to do step-for-step approach and also to discuss what is the fallback position,” Kallas told Reuters in an interview.
“If we see that the developments are going to the wrong direction, then we are also willing to put them back,” she added.
Six EU member states called this month for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking.
Current EU sanctions include a ban on Syrian oil imports and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in Europe.
(Reporting by Lili Bayer and Andrew Gray, Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Tomasz Janowski)
The article discusses the EU's potential easing of sanctions on Syria, with hopes for a political agreement at an upcoming meeting.
Some EU states want to support the transition in Syria by suspending economic sanctions, signaling support for new authorities.
Current EU sanctions include a ban on Syrian oil imports and a freeze on Syrian central bank assets in Europe.
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