Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani urged the European Union on Tuesday to translate its concerns into concrete pressure on Israel to halt its continued attacks on Syria, as Damascus pushes for international action to protect its sovereignty.

"This systematic aggression against a country that is recovering requires more than statements of concern; it requires effective pressure to stop these attacks,” al-Shaibani told a joint news conference with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in Damascus.

He called on the EU Foreign Affairs Council to take "a decisive position by calling these attacks by their true name” and demanding the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the lines held on Dec. 8, 2024.

Al-Shaibani also called for the issue to be explicitly placed on the agenda of the EU’s Political and Security Committee.

He said Europe’s rejection of changing borders by force should apply equally on the other side of the Mediterranean.

Israel has carried out repeated strikes and ground incursions in southern Syria since the fall of the Bashar Assad regime in December 2024. Syria says Israel must withdraw from territory it seized after Dec. 8, 2024 and has reaffirmed its commitment to the 1974 disengagement agreement.

Shaibani reiterated that the occupied Golan Heights are Syrian territory and said U.N. Security Council Resolution 497 considers Israel’s annexation of the territory "null and void.”

He welcomed the EU’s rejection of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and said Damascus remains fully committed to the 1974 disengagement agreement, while seeking active European support for renewing the mandate of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

Last week, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa told the U.N. General Assembly that Israel had carried out nearly 500 air and artillery strikes, more than 1,200 incursions and around 300 arrests and detentions of Syrians, while reiterating Damascus’ demand for an Israeli withdrawal to the Dec. 8, 2024 lines.

Al-Shaibani said his talks with Kallas also covered plans for a new Syria-EU partnership agreement to replace the 1977 accord.

He said the two sides aim to prepare a joint scope paper before the end of the first quarter of 2027 and agreed to institutionalize their discussions through technical committees.

Damascus also seeks to elevate cooperation into a strategic commitment by including Syria in the EU’s multiannual financial framework for 2028-2034, al-Shaibani said.

The Syrian foreign minister said Damascus supports maintaining restrictive measures against figures from the Assad regime but called for sanctions to be lifted from Syrian government institutions and state entities.

The EU lifted its economic sanctions on Syria in May 2025 to support the country’s transition and reconstruction, while maintaining targeted restrictions against individuals and entities linked to the former Assad regime and measures imposed on security grounds.

The EU considers that networks linked to the ousted regime continue to retain influence and pose a risk of undermining the transition process and hampering efforts towards national reconciliation and accountability.

In May 2026, the bloc renewed those targeted measures until June 1, 2027, while removing several Syrian state entities from its sanctions list.

Al-Shaibani said Syria had rejected from the outset becoming a platform for attacks or an arena for settling regional scores amid the latest conflict in the region.

He said Damascus stood in solidarity with Gulf countries and Jordan over Iranian attacks against them while continuing to advocate diplomatic solutions.

The top diplomat also said the conflict had demonstrated the risks of relying on a single corridor for energy and trade, arguing that Syria’s geography provides one of the shortest routes linking East and West.

"Stability in Syria is an integral part of Europe’s own security,” he said.

Kallas’ visit to Damascus comes days after she met al-Shaibani in New York on the sidelines of the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly, as part of a series of meetings the Syrian foreign minister held with international officials.

The EU has recently expanded its diplomatic presence in Syria and sent an ambassador to Damascus after a 14-year absence.