Switzerland said on Friday it will lift a raft of economic sanctions imposed on Syria, including the Middle Eastern country's central bank.
Bern, Switzerland © Mena Today
Switzerland said on Friday it will lift a raft of economic sanctions imposed on Syria, including the Middle Eastern country's central bank.
After the toppling of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, targeted sanctions against individuals and entities linked to the former government will still remain in place, Switzerland's governing Federal Council said.
"The aim of this decision is to promote the country's economic recovery and an inclusive and peaceful political transition," the council said in a statement.
After an initial easing of sanctions in March, Switzerland is now lifting restrictions on the provision of certain financial services, trade in precious metals and the export of luxury goods, the government said.
Some 24 entities including the central bank of Syria have also been removed from the sanctions list, it added.
The announcement follows the EU's decision to lift its economic sanctions on Syria at the end of May after a similar move by the U.S. Treasury Department in the same month.
Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier
The conventional wisdom in regional security circles is predictable: Turkey helped birth the new military architecture in post-Assad Syria, meaning Damascus is merely a northern extension of Ankara's strategic reach.
Syria expects negotiations to resume soon with Israel over a security deal it hopes will lead to Israel's withdrawal from Syrian land, a top Syrian minister said, urging Israel to seize a "historic opportunity" as the door for diplomacy is open.
Syria denounced "repeated attacks" by Israel on Saturday after a drone strike hit the south of the country in the morning, just days after Israel bombed a military base in the northwest, with an Israeli minister separately rejecting American criticism over that earlier operation.
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