ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The European Union is hosting a donor conference on Monday for Syria to contribute to a peaceful transition after Bashar al-Assad was toppled with the German foreign minister announcing €300 million in additional humanitarian support.
“At the conference, Foreign Minister [Annalena] Baerbock will announce additional humanitarian support for Syria amounting to 300 million euros,” read a statement from the German foreign office.
Calling the task of rebuilding Syria politically, economically, and socially “nothing short of a mammoth task,” she said that “with the Brussels Syria Conference, we want to support the country on this rocky path.”
The conference, which is taking place in Brussels, is hosting ministers and representatives from the West, Syria’s regional neighbors, and other Arab countries, as well as United Nations agencies.
It is the ninth conference of its kind, but the first in which representatives from the Syrian state are present. Damascus will be represented by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.
“With this conference, the international community is making it clear: We will not abandon the Syrians in this process alone,” Baerbock said, stressing the importance of not missing the opportunity for an “inclusive political transition while simultaneously preparing the ground for reconstruction measures and an improvement in the economic situation.”
The one-day meeting is headed by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
The new authorities in Damascus, headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group that spearheaded the offensive that forced Assad out of the country in December, have come under repeated criticism for their treatment of minority groups.
After taking power, Sharaa said he would respect the rights of all ethnic and religious groups, but recent violence against the Alawite community, which Assad hails from, along Syria’s western coast has steered confidence away from his remarks.
Violence erupted in Alawite-majority areas on Syria’s Mediterranean coast earlier in March when armed groups, many loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad, launched attacks. Damascus responded with heavy force, cracking down on the largest challenge to their newly established rule.
In a televised speech earlier in March, Sharaa called on the armed groups to surrender, stressing they had committed a “great and unforgivable sin.”
