BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Some European Union sanctions on Syria are being lifted, the French foreign minister said on Monday, as part of a broader bloc effort to help stabilize Damascus after President Bashar Assad was ousted in December.
EU foreign ministers discussed the matter at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Callas telling Reuters she hoped an agreement could be reached on easing sanctions.
“Concerning Syria, we will decide today to lift or suspend certain sanctions targeting the energy and transport sectors, as well as financial institutions crucial to the country’s financial stability,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrow, arriving in Brussels. said at the EU meeting.
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He added that France would also propose sanctions against Iranian officials responsible for the detention of French citizens in Iran.
“I will announce today that we will advise that those responsible for these arbitrary detentions may be subject to EU sanctions in the coming months,” he said.
Assad, whose family has ruled Syria with an iron fist for 54 years, was overthrown by Islamist rebels on December 8, ending a devastating 13-year civil war that has sparked one of the worst refugee crises in modern times. .
The conflict has left large parts of many major cities in ruins, services are dilapidated and the vast majority of the population lives in poverty. The West’s harsh sanctions regime has effectively cut off its formal economy from the rest of the world.
(Reporting by Sudip Ka-Gupta; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
