Arab and European 'New Syria' discussions...Will EU sanctions be lifted?

[Anchor]
An international conference was held in Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to support Syria, which has a transitional government following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship.

With the Syrian transitional government urging the West to lift sanctions, the European side has signaled "cautious progress."

Reporter Kim Jandi's report.

[Reporter]
The West and the Arab world began to embrace new power in Syria, a hostile force close to Iran.

Representative Sunni Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as foreign ministers from the European Union, the United Kingdom and Germany, gathered in one place.

In addition to holding the Assad regime accountable for its war crimes, it seeks ways to support the Syrian transitional government.

The meeting comes as the Ahmed al-Shara-led Syrian transitional government has called for the lifting of Western sanctions to attract international funds every day.

Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal also stressed the importance of lifting sanctions that hinder Syria's reconstruction.

[Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan: Attendees welcomed positive steps by the new Syrian government to strengthen the stability of state agencies, adopt a dialogue with the parties in Syria, and commit to fighting terrorism.]

In response to the demand for sanctions to be lifted, the European side was cautious and predicted "progress."European Union High Representative

Kallas said he would look into ways to ease sanctions, but stressed that substantial progress must come first in the political transition process.

[Kaya Kallas / High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security of the European Union] (The starting point is) sanctions that hinder national development. Access to banking services and everything related to it. But of course, this has to start with the conditions.]

Earlier, the EU said it could lift some of its own sanctions imposed under Assad's regime on the premise of an inclusive political transition to facilitate Syria's reconstruction.

Germany also said sanctions on Syrian officials responsible for war crimes should be maintained, but it should approach the provision of relief to its people wisely,

Syria has announced that it will provide 50 million euros for humanitarian aid, and about 75.5 billion won in our money.

Iran, which was close to the Assad regime, did not attend the meeting.

I'm Kim Jandi from YTN.



Video editing: Han Kyung-hee