European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is scheduled to visit Syria later this week, marking her first trip to the country since the collapse of the former regime, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Monday.
The visit comes as part of a broader Middle East tour that also includes Jordan and Lebanon, reflecting the European Union’s expanding engagement in regional stability, reconstruction and post-conflict recovery.
The European Council separately announced that its president, Antonio Costa, will also travel to Syria this week. According to a statement published on the council’s official website, Costa will first attend the EU-Jordan summit on Jan. 8, before proceeding to Syria on an official visit alongside von der Leyen.
The stop in Syria is considered the most significant leg of the tour, as it represents von der Leyen’s first visit to Damascus since the fall of the Bashar Assad regime in December 2024. The visit follows the EU’s decision to fully lift economic sanctions imposed during the Assad era, a process that began with partial suspensions earlier in the year and culminated in May.
Talks in Damascus are expected to center on the EU’s role in supporting Syria’s reconstruction, with European officials emphasizing the need to pair financial assistance with long-term institutional capacity building.
The EU has remained a key supporter of the Syrian people throughout the conflict and its aftermath, and is among the country’s largest international donors. In February, the EU suspended major economic sanctions against Syria and lifted them entirely in May to facilitate recovery efforts. In March, the bloc hosted the ninth Brussels Conference on Syria, during which the EU and its member states pledged 3.4 billion euros ($3.97 billion) to address urgent humanitarian and socio-economic needs inside Syria and across the region.
In a joint statement marking the first anniversary of Syria’s liberation, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, European Commission Vice-President Dubravka Sujša, and European Commissioner Hajia Habib reaffirmed that respect for Syria’s sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity remains a fundamental and nonnegotiable principle.
The statement described the fall of the regime as the end of “decades of brutal dictatorship,” which led to the killing, disappearance and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Syrians, as well as the destruction of vast areas of the country, with devastating consequences for its social fabric. It added that this historic transformation has opened the door for the Syrian people to pursue a comprehensive political, economic and social transition.
