Europe Syria conference ends with billions in aid pledges
The international community is providing a further 5.8 billion euros to mitigate the terrible consequences of the civil war in Syria. Of this amount, 4.2 billion euros are earmarked as grants and 1.6 billion euros as loans, announced EU Commissioner Dubravka Suica after a donor conference in Brussels.
17.03.2025, 21:34
SDA
Germany once again pledged a large part of the total sum. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Development Minister Svenja Schulze announced a contribution of 300 million euros to support people in Syria and Syrian refugees in neighboring countries.
At last year's donor conference in Brussels, Germany pledged more than one billion euros. According to diplomats, the fact that it is significantly less this year is partly due to the fact that there is still no agreed federal budget because of the break-up of the coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP last fall.
The US government did not make any concrete aid commitments at the Brussels conference, but merely announced that it would continue to provide selected support. It also called on other countries to shoulder part of the financial burden that the USA had previously borne
First Brussels conference since the fall of Assad
The ninth edition of the donor conference was the first since the fall of Syria's long-term ruler Bashar al-Assad last December. However, hopes for a quick and lasting peace in the country have recently been overshadowed by a new wave of violence.
According to independent observers, the Alawite minority in particular was targeted in a military operation. The transitional government saw the violent outbreak of violence as an attempt by Assad loyalists to plunge the country into a new civil war.
EU adheres to easing sanctions
Against this backdrop in particular, the EU intends to stick to its plans to lift sanctions against the country for the time being. If further violence is to be prevented, the people in the country must be given hope, said Foreign Affairs Commissioner Kaja Kallas on Monday following consultations with the foreign ministers of the member states in Brussels. This would also require, for example, access to banking services, sufficient funds for the payment of salaries and investments.
The EU is closely monitoring the course of the new Syrian leadership, added Kallas. In particular, it is also concerned with how it reacts to the recent massacre on the coast and holds those responsible to account.
Massacres worry donor countries
Baerbock said: "Three and a half months after the fall of the Assad regime, the historic opportunity for a better, more peaceful future and the fear of a slide into new violence and instability are incredibly close together for the people of Syria." The terrible massacres of the Alawites a week ago made it clear how urgent it is to take concrete steps towards political inclusion.
The EU states had only decided to gradually ease sanctions in February following the fall of Assad. Measures in the energy, transport and banking sectors will be lifted in order to support a rapid economic recovery, reconstruction and stabilization of the country. There is also hope that hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees in the EU and many more in the Middle East will one day be able to return home.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says that, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 1.5 million Syrians could return to their country as early as this year. In addition, a further two million Syrian internally displaced persons could possibly return to their homes.
