Syria's new rulers seek aid boost at EU conference

17/3/2025 11:43

The interim government in Damascus will take part on Monday in an annual international conference to gather aid pledges for Syria, facing dire humanitarian problems and an uncertain political transition after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.



The conference has been hosted by the European Union in Brussels since 2017 - but took place without the government of Assad, who was shunned for his brutal actions in a civil war that began in 2011.



After Assad's overthrow in December, EU officials hope to use the conference as a fresh start, despite concerns about deadly violence this month that pitted the new, Islamist rulers against Assad loyalists.



EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, "This is a time of dire needs and challenges for Syria, as tragically evidenced by the recent wave of violence in coastal areas."



But she said it was also "a time of hope", citing an agreement struck on March 10 to integrate the Kurdish-led and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which control much of Syria's northeast, into new state institutions.