Germany's Baerbock pledges €50M for Syria at Riyadh talks

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that Syrians needed "quick" relief and pledged additional aid. Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is urging Western states to ease sanctions on the country.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in Riyadh on Sunday for a regional conference on Syria several weeks after the toppling of former Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

Also to attend the conference in the Saudi capital wasinterim Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani.

What did Baerbock say?

Speaking to reporters ahead of the conference, Baerbock said that sanctions against Assad allies who "committed serious crimes" during Syria's civil war must stay in place.

She called for a "smart approach" to easing sanctions against Syria.

"Syrians now need a quick dividend from the transition of power, and we continue to help those in Syria who have nothing, as we have done all the years of civil war, we will provide another €50 million ($51.3 million) for food, emergency shelters and medical care," Baerbock said.

Earlier this month, Baerbock visited Damascus and said that the lifting of EU sanctions on Syria would depend on the implementation of "an inclusive political process" in the country.

On January 7, The Financial Times reported that Germany was pushing the EU to lift sanctions on Syria.

According to the United Nations, seven out of 10 Syrians require humanitarian assistance after 13 years of civil war.

Syria's new rulers push for easing of sanctions

Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who heads the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group that is part of a rebel alliance that overthrew Assad's regime, has been pushing for Western states to ease sanctions to allow Syria to recover.

Last Monday, the US Treasury Department said that it would ease enforcement on restrictions affecting essential services including energy and sanitation while stressing that Washington would wait to see progress before further lifting of sanctions.

EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Sunday that the bloc's foreign ministers would meet in Brussels at the end of the month to discuss sanctions against Syria, with priorities for relief potentially including sanctions hindering reconstruction and access to banking services. 

She said on Friday that sanctions could be lifted once Damascus begins forming an inclusive government that protects minority groups.

sdi/ab (AFP, dpa, Reuters)