Syrian minister makes first trip to EU as powers look to aid transition

Syria’s foreign minister was attending an international conference in Paris on Thursday as regional and Western powers seek to shield the country during its fragile transition amid ongoing instability across the region, Reuters has reported.

Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani is leading a delegation for the first trip to the European Union since the overthrow of Bashar Al-Assad and days after President Emmanuel Macron invited Syria’s UN-sanctioned President Ahmed Al-Sharaa to France.

“This Paris meeting in a way is to help create a protective bubble around the Syria crisis to give them time to resolve it by dissuading the bad losers from destabilising the country,” said a French official.

Regional ministers, including from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Lebanon, have been joined by Western partners, although the United States only has a low-level diplomatic presence.

The meeting aims to coordinate efforts to bring a peaceful transition, ensuring the country’s sovereignty and security, and mobilise Syria’s main neighbours and partners to coordinate aid and economic support, explained the French foreign ministry. It will also discuss transitional justice and the fight against impunity.

The conference does not aim to raise funds, which will be left to an annual pledging conference in Brussels in March, but issues such as the lifting of sanctions will be discussed.

The EU has moved forward in lifting some sanctions, although that decision still remains blocked amid opposition from Cyprus and Greece due to concerns over maritime delimitation talks between Syria and Turkiye and assurances that sanctions could be restored quickly, said two diplomats. They said that they were hopeful a compromise could be reached this month.

Ahead of the meeting, main international donors took stock of the humanitarian situation, notably in north-eastern Syria, where the impact of US aid cuts has had a “terrifying” impact, according to a European official.

Officials also said that the subject of Western-backed Kurdish Syrian forces, the central government and Turkiye, which deems part of those forces to be terrorist groups, would also be discussed.

A Turkish diplomatic source said that Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz, who is attending the meeting, would “draw attention to the threats Syria is facing, namely the separatist terrorist organisation, and emphasise our country’s determination regarding the total clearance of the country from terror elements.”

READ: UK to adapt Syria sanctions following Assad’s fall