EU leaders visit Syria and pledge support for recovery after years of civil war

BEIRUT (AP) — Top officials from the European Union visited Syria for the first time Friday and met with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, in another sign of the country’s improving relations with the West.

The visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the President of the European Council António Costa was part of a regional tour.

Both European leaders made statements of support for Syria, as it struggles to recover after nearly 14 years of civil war that ended in December 2024 with the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive led by al-Sharaa, then the leader of an Islamist rebel group.

“After decades of fear and silence, Syrians began a long journey toward hope and renewal. Europe will do everything it can to support Syria’s recovery and reconstruction," Von der Leyen posted on X.

Al-Sharaa has since launched a largely successful diplomatic offensive and has restored relations with western and Arab countries that had shunned Assad’s government because of widespread reports of human rights abuses by his security forces before and during the war.

Since Assad’s fall, the country has continued to struggle economically, and there have been several outbursts of sectarian violence. Al-Sharaa’s government has also struggled to consolidate control over all of Syria.

In recent days, clashes broke out between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo amid stalled negotiations for a merger between the new Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces that controls much of the country’s northeast.

Syria's Defense Ministry announced a ceasefire Friday, though there was no public response from the SDF and it was not clear if Kurdish forces in Aleppo had agreed to the deal.

Costa posted on X that the delegation had come “to show the EU’s continued support to Syria.”

“There is still a long way ahead but you have already taken the first steps,” he wrote.

The delegation was set to continue the tour with a visit to Lebanon, where the army a day earlier announced it had completed the first stage of a plan to remove weapons from nonstate groups, including the powerful militia Hezbollah.

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Associated Press writer Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed.