BRUSSELS, May 20. /TASS/. European Union (EU) member states have decided to remove economic sanctions against Syria, EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas said following the meeting of the Council of the EU in Brussels.
"Today, we took the decision to lift our economic sanctions on Syria. We want to help the Syrian people rebuild a new, inclusive and peaceful Syria," she wrote on social media X.
"The EU has always stood by Syrians throughout the last 14 years - and will keep doing so," Kallas added.
At the end of last year armed opposition militias initiated a large-scale offensive against positions of the Syrian army in Aleppo and Idlib provinces. They took several major cities (Aleppo, Hama, Daraa, and Homs), and entered Damascus, after which government forces left the city. Syrian President Bashar Assad resigned and left the country, having ordered a peaceful transfer of power. Head of the Hay·at Tahrir al-Sham group (outlawed in Russia) Ahmed Hussein al-Shar'a became the virtual leader of Syria.
The EU imposed economic sanctions on Syria starting 2011, including those against the government and military structures, the family and relatives of Assad.