By Lili Bayer and Feras Dalatey
BRUSSELS/DAMASCUS, April 17 – The European Union plans to deepen its engagement with Syria by relaunching formal political contacts and paving the way for closer economic and security ties, according to a document seen by Reuters, marking the latest step in a broader policy shift after years of frozen relations.
The background paper, produced by the bloc’s diplomatic arm and circulated to EU member countries this week, says the EU will fully resume its 1978 cooperation agreement with Syria and begin a High-Level Political Dialogue, an EU term for formal and structured talks, with the country’s transitional authorities on May 11.
In a notable policy adjustment, the EU also said it would “reframe and adapt” its sanctions regime to maintain leverage while engaging with Syria’s leadership and targeting spoilers of the transition, according to the paper.
Syria, which had most Western sanctions lifted at the end of last year, is seeking broader integration into the international community under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who headed an alliance of Islamist rebel factions to oust former leader Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024, after a devastating 14-year war.
MIGRANT RETURNS, SYRIA AS TRANSIT HUB
The paper outlines plans to step up economic engagement, including a framework for trade and investment, mobilising private sector funding and supporting reforms to improve Syria’s business environment through a new technical assistance hub.
It also said the EU would work with authorities on facilitating the “safe, voluntary and dignified return” of refugees and displaced people.
Europe hosts over 1 million Syrian refugees and asylum seekers, roughly half of whom are in Germany. Their return has been on top of the agenda in most discussions between European capitals and Damascus since Assad’s ouster in late 2024.
The paper highlights ambitions to integrate Syria into regional connectivity projects, including the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor, positioning the country as a hub for transport, energy and digital links.
Syria is emerging as a critical transit point, particularly amid the energy crisis triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war. A first tanker carrying Iraqi oil transported overland sailed from the Syrian port of Baniyas on Thursday.
Turkey, Syria and Jordan have also agreed to upgrade their railway networks to create a corridor linking southern Europe to the Gulf, Turkish transport minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Bloomberg on Wednesday.
BACKING FOR INTEGRATION OF SYRIAN KURDS
On security, the paper said the EU could support training for Syrian police and institutional capacity-building in the interior ministry, alongside cooperation on counterterrorism and efforts to address drug trafficking and organised crime.
The document also underscores EU backing for implementing an agreement struck in January between Damascus and Kurdish-led authorities in the northeast, which includes integrating local institutions into the state and expanding rights for Syrian Kurds as part of a broader political transition.
As a major step in implementing that agreement, Syria appointed in March the commander of the prominent YPG Kurdish forces as a deputy defense minister for eastern territories, where U.S. forces handed over their last remaining military base to the Syrian army this week.
(Reporting by Lili Bayer in Brussels, Feras Dalatey in Damascus; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
