BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union is organizing a donor conference for Syria on Monday to collect support to guarantee a peaceful transition after President Bashar Assad was driven out by a rebellion last December.
Ministers and representatives of Western partners, as well as the regional neighbors of Syria, other Arab countries and UN agencies will participate in the one-day meeting in Brussels that is chaired by EU chef of foreign policy Kaja Kallas.
For the first time, Syria will attend the De Ninth edition conference in its kind and will be represented by Minister of Foreign Affairs Asad Hassan Al-Shibani. The event was hastily organized by the EU to try to take advantage of the change that the country wipes.
The meeting comes in a precarious time. The new leaders of Syria try to consolidate control of the territory that was divided into de facto mini states for almost 14 years of the civil war and to rebuild the economy and infrastructure of the country. The United Nations estimate in 2017 that it would cost at least $ 250 billion to rebuild Syria, while experts say that that number could reach at least $ 400 billion.
The prospects for economic recovery have been hampered by hard Western sanctions imposed during the rule of Assad and were largely not lifted.
The interim government is likely to look at the Brussels conference to strengthen its legitimacy in the eyes of the international community in the hope that the sanctions will be lifted, while they are also looking for help in the short term.
Security problems
But the EU in particular is in a dilemma, because not all has gone well lately.
Last week, an ambush to a Syrian safety patrol of armed men who are loyal to Assad collisions caused. Some factions connected to the new government launched sectarian revenge attacks – mainly aimed at members of Assad's Alawitic minority – that monitoring groups say that hundreds of citizens were killed for several days.
In a statement, the EU mentioned “for the full respect of the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Syria,” and said that it will only support “a peaceful and inclusive transition, away from malignant foreign interference, which guarantees the rights of all Syrians without distinction of any nature.”
Syria is also on the agenda of a meeting of the EU ministers who will chair Kallas separately on Monday. The block of 27 countries has begun to relieve sanctions for energy, transport and financial sector to encourage the new authorities, but remains wary.
The interim rulers of the country have difficulty exercising their authority in a large part of Syria since the Islamist former rebellious group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, led a lightning stray against Assad.
Former HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now an interim president and on Thursday he signed a temporary constitution that leaves Syria under Islamic rule for five years during a transition phase.
Although many were happy to put an end to the dictatorial rule of the Assad family of more than 50 years, religious and ethnic minorities are skeptical about the new Islamic leaders and cautious to allow Damascus under his new leadership to claim control of their areas.
The EU can re -introduce the sanctions if things do not go to Western backers. At the same time, the economy of Syria, infrastructure and institutions are in doors. If a failed state, it could again be a port for extremists.
Economic and humanitarian needs
People have to do it with just a few hours of electricity every day, water resources are unreliable and often unsafe, unemployment runs to 80% or 90%, and destruction is widespread. Many government employees and experts had to rebuild after the Arab Spring Democracy movement 2011 had collapsed into conflict and authoritarian rule under Assad.
The UN refugee office said that last year about 7 million people had left their houses, but stayed in Syria. More than 4.7 million refugees are registered in neighboring countries, most in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. However, since the fall of Assad there have been almost 302,000 back.
Despite the challenges, UN Humanitarian Chef Tom Fletcher, who will attend the conference, is cheerful. “It is now easier for us to operate in Syria and in Syria than under the Assad regime,” Fletcher told reporters last week.
“I had excellent conversations with the caretaker's authorities,” he said, noticed that Al-Shibani in particular had helped to keep border crossings open.
Although the aim of Monday's conference is to generate care providers, it is also aimed at complying with the economic needs of Syria, and that requires calmness. Infrastructure, health and education must be scaled up. Jobs and cash for work programs are needed, so that Syrians can earn a living.
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Sewell reported to Beirut. AP journalist Edith M. Lederer in New York has contributed to this report.
