EU: No Syria reconstruction aid until Assad leaves

Mar 12, 2021

The European Union is standing firm on sanctions against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and will not support reconstruction for the war-torn country until the dictator in Damascus steps aside.

“There will be no end to sanctions, no normalizations and no support for reconstruction until a political transition is underway,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top foreign affairs official, said Tuesday at a European Parliament debate marking the 10th anniversary of Syria’s unresolved civil war.

Borrell doubled down on the EU’s stance that providing international reconstruction aid to Syrian territory under Assad’s control would vindicate the dictator’s “crushing” of the country’s 2011 uprising and “pursuing a war until the whole country gets on its knees.”

The EU’s policy, initially spearheaded by the United States, seeks to isolate Assad until free and fair elections are held in Syria, as called for by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254.

The top diplomat said the EU is prepared to provide “substantial support” for Syria’s reconstruction once elections are held, according to the political process outlined in Resolution 2254, noting that the EU has already given $26 billion in aid, Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency reported.