Berlin is leading a push for the EU to ease Assad-era sanctions on Syria as part of a western drive to support the country’s political transition and aid reconstruction after 13 years of civil war.
German officials circulated two proposal documents among EU capitals shortly before Christmas with suggestions for key areas where the bloc’s penalties against Syria could be lifted, according to three people familiar with the matter.
They proposed that measures be eased in exchange for the country’s new leadership implementing certain reforms in a bid to retain some leverage over its de facto leader, Islamist former militant Ahmed al-Sharaa.