Antonio Tajani says Italy wants to serve as a bridge between Damascus and the European Union.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has held talks with Syria’s new rulers and called for talks about easing EU sanctions against the previous government of Bashar al-Assad.
Tajani met Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Friday and said that the sanctions imposed after al-Assad’s crackdown on anti-government protests that sparked the country’s 13-year civil war “are of no use.” case may affect the Syrian population.”
“They were imposed because there was a different regime. It is important to open discussions about the changed situation,” he said, pointing to the opposition’s seizure of power in the country last month, led by al-Sharaa’s armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which brought an abrupt end to al-Assad’s rule brought an end.
Tajani said Italy wanted to help Syria recover from the civil war and rebuild its broken economy by acting as a bridge between Damascus and the EU.
“The Mediterranean can no longer be just a sea of death, a graveyard of migrants, but a sea of trade, a sea of development,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra reported from Damascus and said the meeting with al-Sharaa was “quite significant.”
“(It) gives you a sense that the international community recognizes the fact that this new government is a new reality and would like to do business with it.”
“Noticeable progress” required
Tajani arrived in Damascus after holding talks in Rome on Thursday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and officials from the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
He said the meeting of the so-called Syria quintet was key to starting discussion about changing EU sanctions.
Kallas said earlier Friday that the 27-nation bloc could begin lifting sanctions if Syria’s new rulers take steps to form an inclusive government that protects minorities.
“The EU could gradually ease sanctions if there is noticeable progress,” Kallas wrote on X.
In Damascus, Tajani also met Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani, who announced that he would soon make his first official trip to Europe.
Al-Shaibani has already visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan since the beginning of the month.
Al-Shaibani said he welcomed Tajani’s focus on sanctions.
“We share his opinion that the reasons for their introduction no longer exist and could be an obstacle to promoting the return of refugees from outside Syria,” he said.
More than half a million people died in the war in Syria, which also destroyed the economy and forced millions of people to flee their homes, including to Europe.
