Netherlands: It is too early to decide to lift sanctions on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
December 16, 2024, 11:36 am

Netherlands: It is too early to decide to lift sanctions on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham

هولندا

After "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham," along with other armed factions, managed to take control of the country following the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad's regime, Dutch Foreign Minister Kaspar Veldkamp stated on Monday that it is still too early to remove "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" from European sanctions lists.

Veldkamp indicated that lifting sanctions on Syria is linked to initiating an effective political process and ensuring the rights of minorities. He also added that the closure of Russian bases in the country would be part of the European conditions for supporting Damascus.

These statements came at a time when the European Union's foreign and security policy chief, Kaia Kallas, announced that the European Council would send a senior diplomat to Damascus today for discussions, ahead of an anticipated European meeting to discuss the situation in Syria and the rapid developments that have occurred in the country recently.

According to information obtained by "Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath," the diplomat in question is the European Chargé d'Affaires, Mikael Ohnmacht. Kallas explained that the meeting of European foreign ministers will address how to deal with the new Syrian leadership.

Regarding the possibility of removing some opposition factions from the EU's terrorism list, Kallas mentioned that the Union is closely monitoring the situation and observing the actions of the new Syrian leaders while discussing the next steps.

As for the positions of Russia and Iran, which were supporters of former President Bashar al-Assad, Kallas considered them now to be weakened, describing this as a "positive development for the world."

It is noteworthy that "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" and its allied factions launched surprise attacks on Syrian armed forces in late last month, enabling them to take control of the city of Aleppo within a few days, in addition to Hama and Homs, before Damascus fell on December 7, leading to the previous government's announcement of the regime's collapse and Assad's flight.

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