Donor countries pledge €5.8 billion to support Syria.

Donor countries, including the European Union, pledged €5.8 billion in aid to Syria on Monday during an annual EU donor conference in Brussels to support Syria's reconstruction after the overthrow of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

"I am proud to announce that we have collectively pledged a total of €5.8 billion, €4.2 billion in grants and €1.6 billion in loans," said European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica.

The European Union had previously pledged approximately €2.5 billion in aid to Syria through next year, before later increasing the amount to €5.8 billion.

"Syrians need more support, whether they are still abroad or have decided to return home," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during the conference. "That's why today, in the European Union, we are increasing our pledges for Syrians in the country and the region to around €2.5 billion for 2025 and 2026."

"The dreams of the Syrian people have become achievable, and the Syrian people need support at this critical juncture," De Leyen added. She said the road to recovery in Syria is long, but the signs are promising, noting that there are parties that do not want the reconciliation process in Syria to succeed.

For her part, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaya Kallas said the EU would move forward with its plan to ease sanctions on Syria, and that the donor conference on Syria sent a message of collective support for a peaceful and inclusive Syrian-led transition.

"This is a time of dire needs and challenges for Syria, as tragically demonstrated by the recent wave of violence in coastal areas," she added.

Kallas announced the European Union's pledge of €750 million to support the population inside Syria and Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, and a similar amount to support Syrian refugees in Türkiye.

German-British pledge

During the conference, Germany pledged an additional €300 million to Syria to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of the civil war there.

According to the data, the German funds will be used primarily for humanitarian aid, but also to support civil society and the education system, as well as Syrian refugees and their host communities in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Turkey.

The UK also pledged up to £160 million ($200 million) this year to support Syria's recovery, noting that this "will help provide Syrians with basic needs for water, food, healthcare, and education through 2025."

Al-Shaibani calls for lifting sanctions

For the first time, government representatives attended the ninth donor conference in Damascus, led by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Sheibani, who said in a speech at the opening of the conference that his country's government was demanding the lifting of sanctions and support for its reconstruction.

The Syrian minister noted that "the donors' conference in Brussels today includes genuine Syrian representation for the first time," and said that "the continuation of sanctions means that the Syrian people are the ones being punished, and they must be lifted because they are preventing the country's renaissance."

He added that Syrians will not tolerate "any infringement on Syria's sovereignty and unity, and that the government is working to promote reconciliation and national dialogue and protect the rights of all its citizens." He emphasized that the government's steps toward Syria's renaissance "must be consistent with the aspirations of the people, most of whom still live in camps."

He said, "The former regime exploited the minority card, and the current government rejects this because it believes in citizenship for all Syrians." He emphasized that the government seeks to implement the agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces and is working to prevent it from posing any threat to neighboring countries.

Al-Shaibani also explained that Israel is violating the 1974 agreement and is penetrating Syrian territory, posing a threat to its sovereignty and the safety of its people.

US withdrawal

It's worth noting that the European Union has been hosting the donor conference in Brussels since 2017, but it was held without the participation of the Assad government, which was shunned due to its approach during the civil war that erupted in 2011.

Last year's donor conference succeeded in raising approximately 7.5 billion euros for Syria. However, efforts to achieve this result are in jeopardy this year due to the decision of the United States to suspend its international aid, which had previously been the main donor of international aid to Syria.

The total number of pledges is expected to be lower than in previous years, but the organizers of this donor conference hope that Arab countries will be able to compensate for the US withdrawal.

Given the massive needs, the United Nations estimates that, at the current pace, Syria will need at least half a century to return to the economic situation it enjoyed before the civil war that erupted in 2011.

Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies