The European Union (EU) announced on Monday that it will ease certain sanctions on Syria, marking a significant shift in its policy toward the war-torn country. This decision was revealed during a meeting of top EU diplomats in Brussels.

Some European Union sanctions against Syria are being lifted, France's foreign minister said on Monday, as part of a broader EU move to help stabilise Damascus after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December.

A six-phase “road map” prepared by the EU’s foreign service advocates a “staged approach” to lifting sanctions on the country “to incentivise peaceful transition and reconstruction”. An arms embargo, sanctions on equipment used for internal repression and measures targeting Assad regime officials would be exempt, the document states.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she expected the bloc to agree Monday to begin easing sanctions on Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.

The European Union may soon suspend sanctions on Syria related to energy and transport but has yet to agree on whether to ease restrictions on financial transactions, according to three diplomats and a document seen by Reuters.

This suspension of sanctions must be accompanied by political transition involving all Syrians,' says foreign ministry - Anadolu Ajansı

EU sanctions include bans on oil imports from Syria, as well as a ban on investment in the Syrian oil industry and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in the EU. The proposed roadmap indicates some existing sanctions, including those related to arms and entities linked to the Assad regime, would not be suspended.

FILE PHOTO: EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas looks on, during her visit to attend a meeting on Syria, following the recent ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo