Syria, von der Leyen: “Worrying escalation.” 620 million over two years promised to Damascus

Brussels – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen did not arrive in Syria empty-handed. She brought the new leadership in Damascus a financial assistance package worth €620 million over two years, part of a “new three-pillar cooperation framework.” The EU leader visited today (9 January), together with European Council President Antonio Costa, the self-proclaimed Syrian president Ahmad al-Sharaa, just as fierce clashes are underway in Aleppo, in the north-west of the country, between government forces and the Kurds of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). 

“The violent escalations of recent days are worrying,” began von der Leyen, who has bet heavily on al-Sharaa and the new course in Syria after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship and more than a decade of civil war. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the death toll from the fighting in Aleppo is already at least 43, including 25 civilians, with 98 wounded. The NGO has denounced the use of “heavy weapons, with attacks targeting residential areas and hospitals.” But the 350 kilometres separating Damascus from the “capital of the North” allow the EU heavyweights to put aside the spectre of a new civil war and focus on their mutual interests with the Syrian leader. 

The EU wants a stable Syria, capable of gradually taking back the more than one million Syrian refugees in the European Union and almost four million held in Turkey, for whom Brussels has been paying out several billion euros for years. Al Sharaa wants to legitimise himself definitively on the international stage and needs economic support to rebuild a devastated country. Al Sharaa promised last year that, at the end of a long five-year transition period, he would call new elections and draft a new constitution. 

Von der Leyen identified three pillars: political partnership, economic cooperation, and financial support—provided that Damascus continues its commitment to creating a “new, peaceful, inclusive and secure” Syria. While political dialogue will develop through high-level meetings—the first of which will take place in the first half of this year—the pillar of economic cooperation has, in fact, already begun with the lifting of economic sanctions a few weeks after Assad’s fall. ”
The EU has invited the European Investment Bank to resume its activity in Syria. And today, we would like to start discussions on resuming our Cooperation Agreement. So that Syria can start to benefit once again from access to the European economic market,” announced von der Leyen in her speech. 

The third pillar provides for financial support of around €620 million for 2026 and 2027. This package will “include humanitarian aid, of course, but also early recovery support and bilateral support.” The EU leader insisted that this package is “necessary to support the government in restoring the essential services for the population and to rebuild state institutions.” 

The EU’s commitment is not selfless: “We would like Syrians to have a real prospect of returning home and rebuilding their lives here. We are therefore stepping up our cooperation with regional partners, including Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon, as well as with the UNHCR, to support safe, dignified, and voluntary return,” von der Leyen concluded.