EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib announced a 235 million euro aid package for Syria and neighboring countries on Friday during the first visit by a senior EU official since Bashar al-Assad’s ouster.
The trip comes two weeks after foreign ministers from France and Germany visited, calling for a peaceful, inclusive transition, amid a flurry of diplomatic activity by countries seeking to engage with war-torn Syria’s new authorities.
“I come here to announce a new package of humanitarian aid of 235 million euros ($242 million) in Syria and in neighboring countries,” Lahbib told a press conference in Damascus after meeting Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
“Our funding will contribute to basic needs like shelter, food, clean water, sanitation, health care, education and emergencies among others,” she said.
Neighboring countries including Lebanon have taken in millions of Syrian refugees over the years.
“We count on the authorities to ensure unrestricted and safe access for humanitarian actors to all regions of Syria including those in hard-to-reach and conflict-affected areas” in the east, Lahbib added.
“We are at a turning point and the decisions that will be taken in the coming days and months will be crucial,” Lahbib said.
Sanctions
“You are writing history, and we would like to encourage you to leave a positive trace. It starts with building an inclusive future for all Syrians,” she added.
“Syria is rich in its diversity,” she said of the multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian country.
“We want to see a bright future for Syria and for that, we need to see the rule of law being respected, human rights, women’s rights... What I’ve heard from the mouth of the current authorities (is) really encouraging... now we need action,” she added.
Lahbib’s meetings were also expected to include discussions on the issue of lifting international sanctions on Syria.
The 27-nation European Union, along with other countries, imposed wide-ranging sanctions on the former government and broad swathes of Syria’s economy during its civil war, which began in 2011 with al-Assad’s brutal repression of anti-government protests.
The transitional government has been lobbying to have the measures lifted, but the international community has been hesitant, with many countries waiting to see how the new authorities exercise their power before doing so.
EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss proposals to ease some measures at a meeting in Brussels on January 27.
Lahbib cautioned that “we will need unanimity (at the meeting) to lift the sanctions.”
On Wednesday, visiting United Nations rights chief Volker Turk called for an “urgent reconsideration” of sanctions, saying they had “a negative impact on the enjoyment of rights” of Syrians.
Senior officials from several other countries have also visited since al-Assad’s overthrow, including Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani on Thursday.
The EU’s chief diplomat in the region has also visited.
AFP
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