Germany is promoting the relaxation of EU sanctions against Syria, writes the Financial Times

Shortly before Christmas, Germany sent two documents to EU capitals with proposals for the main areas in which EU sanctions against Syria could be eased, the Financial Times (FT) writes, citing two informed sources.

The documents are said to outline how the EU could gradually ease restrictions on Damascus in exchange for progress on social issues, including ensuring the rights of minorities and women, and compliance with non-proliferation commitments.

One of the FT’s sources, familiar with the discussion in the EU, added that the twenty-seventh, like Washington, could loosen the sanctions temporarily, with the fact that they could be renewed if necessary.

At the beginning of the year, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Syria together with her French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot on behalf of the EU. She also met with Ahmad Shara, the head of the main Syrian rebel alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and now the most powerful man in the country.

During the visit, Baerbock emphasized that all groups of the population of Syria, including women and Kurds, must participate in the transformation of the country if Damascus wants European support. The lifting of sanctions will depend on the further development of the political process, but Europe will not give money to the creation of Islamist institutions, the head of German diplomacy declared.

President Assad’s regime collapsed on December 8, after HTS rebels launched an offensive against government troops at the end of November. Assad assumed the position of president of Syria in 2000 after the death of his father Hafiz Assad, who had ruled the country since 1971. Bashar Assad fled to Moscow.