Damascus: Trump lifts much of the Syria sanctions, al-Sharaa reshuffles government
The Trump administration on 23 May lifted a broad package of sanctions on Syria, while transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa carried out the first reshuffle of his government and replaced the ministers of information and agriculture in a move framed as a response to nepotism allegations.
Damascus over the past seven days has gone through two parallel processes that are reshaping the political framework of Syria’s transitional authorities. On 23 May the Trump administration lifted a broad package of sanctions on Syria, while transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa, on 9 May, carried out the first reshuffle of his government since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024. Both Al Jazeera and Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies have reported the reshuffle replaced the ministers of information and agriculture. On the same day, al-Sharaa appointed the former governor of Homs, Abdulrahman Badreddin al-Ahmad, as secretary to the presidency, presented as a response to nepotism allegations since that post had until then been held by his brother Maher.
For Serbia, which has carefully balanced its relationship with the new Syrian authorities over the past eighteen months, the two developments open new diplomatic channels. The Serbian embassy in Damascus, which remained open throughout Assad’s fall, is again in regular operation. Serbia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that Belgrade is “following the process of Syria’s stabilisation with an interest in the safety of Serbian nationals who remained in the country during the war.” The lifting of US sanctions opens space for the return of Serbian construction companies to the Syrian market, where, up to 2011, they were active with a project portfolio of 340 million euros.
Al-Sharaa appointed Khaled Fawaz Zaarour and Bassel al-Suweidan to head the ministries of information and agriculture, replacing Hamza al-Mustafa and Amjad Badr. According to a transitional government statement, the reshuffle is “a response to the need to strengthen implementation capacity in priority areas.” In the Syrian political context, that has been read as an acknowledgement that the transitional government has serious problems communicating with the public and with urgent agronomic questions after a year-long drought that has hit Syria’s northeast.
What lifting the sanctions delivers
Trump’s lifting of the sanctions package, formalised on 23 May, followed two earlier steps: the president’s late April announcement and a meeting between Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on 15 May in Antalya. According to an assessment by Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies, which carries out the Israeli analysis, the package covers the lifting of sectoral sanctions on Syrian banking, the energy sector and parts of transport infrastructure, while individual sanctions remain in force against names tied to war crimes from the Assad period.
Hala Rharrit, a former US diplomat with years of experience on Syria, told the Brussels-based European Council on Foreign Relations that Trump’s move was “strategically careful because it opens space for economic recovery without erasing legal responsibility.” On her analysis, the package gives Damascus concrete opportunities to attract investment from the Gulf, particularly from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which over the past year signalled willingness to finance the rebuilding of Syrian infrastructure.
Brussels enters the process
The European Union on 11 May announced it will fully restore its cooperation agreement with Syria from 1978 and begin formal talks on strengthening economic and security ties. EU High Representative Kaja Kallas said the Union “views Syria as a country in transition, with which pragmatic dialogue is possible.” With that, Brussels drew a distinction between the Syrian people, who are being helped through humanitarian and development mechanisms, and individuals responsible for war crimes, against whom the sanctions regime stays in force.
From Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in a brief comment to reporters at the Bundestag, expressed “cautious optimism” about Syria’s recovery process. Paris offered reserved support on condition that the transitional government “shows progress in protecting religious and ethnic minorities.” Paris is particularly sensitive to the question of Christian communities in Syria, which French foreign policy has traditionally protected since the days of the League of Nations mandate.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry announced that within the next month it will draft a new constitution, with a target for a popular vote that could be scheduled for the last quarter of 2026. According to Brussels-based ECFR analysis, the main risk in the transitional process remains whether al-Sharaa can hold together a coalition government that includes members of the various armed opposition factions which toppled Assad, with direct internal differentiation over the degree of Islamic involvement in Syria’s future state.
The next concrete date is the UN Security Council session on Syria, scheduled for the first week of June, when special UN envoy Geir Pedersen, who remained in his position after al-Sharaa’s arrival under a strengthened mandate, is expected to address.
