Sittings · Document
Adopted text 2025-07-10
Urgent need to protect religious minorities in Syria following the recent terrorist attack on Mar Elias Church in Damascus
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 4 Sept 2026
Parliament condemns the terrorist attack on Mar Elias Church and all attacks on religious and ethnic communities in Syria, urging the Syrian authorities to protect minorities, investigate violations, and ensure accountability.¶¶¶ It calls for a human rights-based transition, conditional sanctions relief, a reconstruction fund, and dialogue on religious freedom, while urging action against terrorism and respect for territorial integrity.¶¶¶
Key points
- Strongly condemns the terrorist attack on Mar Elias Church and all threats against worship sites; urges Syrian authorities to improve safety and restore the church.¶
- Condemns all attacks targeting religious and ethnic communities, expresses solidarity with victims, and notes heightened fears seven months into the transition.¶
- Notes with concern that HTS members with human rights violation records have roles in the transitional administration, with implications for religious freedom.¶
- Urges Syrian authorities to facilitate swift, transparent, independent investigations, quell sectarian violence, prosecute perpetrators, uphold freedom of religion, and protect all communities.¶
- Reiterates EU support for a human rights-based transition, including conditional lifting of sanctions, and calls for a timeline for credible elections and a Syria reconstruction fund.¶
- Calls on the Commission and EEAS to include protection of religious communities and freedom of religion in dialogue with Syrian authorities.¶
- Highlights vulnerability of Christian communities, diversity of confessional groups, and calls for Syria's new political architecture to reflect this diversity.¶
- Encourages progress on restitution of religious property confiscated under the Assad regime.¶
- Calls on the Council to maintain and impose more targeted sanctions on actors responsible for religious freedom violations.¶
- Calls for efforts against Islamist terrorism, protection of all Syrians, addressing al-Hol and Roj camps, and respecting Syria's territorial integrity.¶
Who is affected
- Syrian transitional authorities: must protect religious communities, investigate attacks, and ensure accountability.¶¶
- Religious and ethnic minorities in Syria, including Christians, Alawites, and Druze: targeted by violence, need protection.¶¶¶
- EU institutions: to support transition, impose sanctions, and include religious freedom in dialogue.¶¶¶
Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text and ¶ links to the paragraph it rests on. Check the text itself before relying on it.