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Syria sanctions relief premature for now, top EU official says

16 December 2024 06:05 (UTC +04:00)

The EU will not lift sanctions on Syria before its new rulers ensure minorities are not persecuted and women's rights are protected within a unified government that disavows religious extremism, the EU's top diplomat said.

An EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday, which had Syria on the agenda, would not discuss expanding financial support to the country beyond that already provided by the EU through United Nations agencies, the European Union's new foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said.

The EU was already the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to Syria, Kallas said.

"We need to discuss what more can we do. But as I say, it can't come as a blank cheque," Kallas added.

She was speaking after attending a conference in Jordan on Saturday that brought together regional and Western powers to discuss Syria's post-Assad future. Diplomats agreed that protection of Syria's minorities was a major concern.

"Syria faces a hopeful but uncertain future," said Kallas, who is making her first visit to the Middle East in her new post.

Syria's new interim leaders had made "positive signals" but these were not enough, she said.

"They are judged by the deeds, not only the words. So the coming weeks and months will show whether their deeds are going to the right direction," Kallas said.

"What everybody is looking at is, of course, the treatment of women and girls also, which shows the society and how it goes, how the institutions are built up, so that there is a government that takes on board everybody," she added.