A total of €4.2 billion in grants and €1.6 billion in loans were mobilised on Monday 17 March at the Ninth International Conference in Support of Syria, organised by the European Commission in Brussels. The European Union and its Member States remain the main donors, mobilising 80% of the financial commitments, but the total amount raised is lower than in 2024, when €7.5 billion in aid was committed.
The funds should support an inclusive and peaceful political transition and ensure sustainable support for Syrians, both at home and in host communities in the region, particularly in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Iraq. “The alarming decline in aid for refugees and the organisations that help them must be reversed. We need to ensure that the necessary funding is available so that we can assume the humanitarian responsibility of taking care of the refugees”, warned the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, at the opening of the conference.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced EU financial support of €2.5 billion in 2025 and 2026. According to the High Representative of the Union, Kaja Kallas, by 2025, €720 million will go to the population in Syria and to refugees and host communities in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, “an increase of €160 million on last year’s commitment”, and €750 million to refugees and host communities in Turkey.
Germany is expected to provide some €300 million to the UN and a number of humanitarian organisations. “It’s all about support for civil society, it’s about psychosocial tasks and, above all, it’s about support for the education system, because it’s clear that if children can’t go to school, in the long term there won’t be a secure and stable future”, announced the German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting held earlier in the day.
Spain has pledged €10 million for humanitarian needs directly targeting the Syrian population, while Poland has pledged €2 million in funding.
Call for more sanctions to be lifted. In addition to humanitarian aid, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani stressed the need to support the reconstruction of his country. “We need to start taking an interest in the country’s future. There are whole towns to rebuild and a whole economy to relaunch”, acknowledged the President of the Commission, adding that the EU wanted to be a partner in the recovery and growth of a new Syria.
While the EU has already suspended some of its sanctions, according to the Syrian minister, it needs to go further. “We cannot achieve economic recovery in Syria if restrictions and sanctions continue to be imposed”, he stressed. He added: “these sanctions were aimed at the previous regime. We are being punished for something we did not do, and we believe that this is a moral and humanitarian issue; it is a sine qua non for us to be able to get on with our lives, invest in vital sectors and rebuild our lives”. According to the minister and his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, this economic recovery could also enable Syrian refugees to return home.
Earlier in the day, at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council, the High Representative of the Union, Kaja Kallas, called for the gradual lifting of sanctions to continue, despite the violence of recent days in north-eastern Syria. “If people cannot work and develop their prosperity, it will create chaos, and chaos can lead to civil war”, she explained. According to Ms Kallas, in order to avoid further violence, people need to have hope, which means having access to banking services, businesses need to be able to invest and salaries need to be paid. “That is why we are continuing with our plan to lift the sanctions, but we are watching very closely the actions taken by the new authorities, how they react and prosecute the people who committed these acts of violence and massacres”, she warned.
The Europeans denounced the latest violence and called for inclusiveness. “The commitment of the Syrian authorities to bring those responsible (for the violence) to justice, to protect minorities and to form an inclusive government is essential for reconciliation”, explained Ms von der Leyen. “The future of Syria is for all Syrians to build. (...) Those who fled and those who stayed. That must be the promise of the new Syria. And we will do everything we can so that it can be fulfilled”, she promised.
According to new draft conclusions for the European Council on 20 and 21 March, obtained by Agence Europe(https://aeur.eu/f/fzd ), the European Council is expected to urge the transitional authorities to guarantee the protection of all civilians and stress “the importance of a peaceful and inclusive transition in Syria and the protection of the rights of Syrians from all ethnic and religious backgrounds without discrimination”.
Conference participants also called for respect for the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “All players, from north to south, east to west, must respect Syria’s sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity. The road to peace, stability and prosperity in Syria will require the support and collaboration of all stakeholders, both in Syria and beyond its borders”, warned Ms Kallas, while Ayman Safadi reiterated that Syria’s stability was essential for the stability of the region. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit and Camille-Cerise Gessant)