Enab Baladi – Rakan al-Khadr
Syria-Jordan relations have entered a new phase of cooperation following meetings of the Higher Coordination Council in the Jordanian capital, Amman, which resulted in the signing of nine agreements and discussions on partnership in 21 vital sectors. The talks focused on energy, trade, and security coordination, reflecting a push toward economic and institutional integration between the two countries.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said the agreements and memoranda of understanding signed with Jordan establish a new phase of strategic relations between the two countries, based on what he described as the “unity of security and destiny” and integration across different sectors.
During a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, held on April 12 in Amman, al-Shaibani said the second round of the Syrian-Jordanian Higher Coordination Council restores relations to their natural course and reinforces the council as a key mechanism for organizing cooperation between state institutions in both countries.
He added that the discussions covered a wide range of sectors, including the economy, trade, transport, energy, water, agriculture, and communications, in addition to security, health, and education cooperation, making the partnership “comprehensive across all pillars of the state.”
Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi described the meetings as “the largest in the history of bilateral relations,” with the participation of more than 30 ministers from both sides.
Safadi said the meetings resulted in the signing of nine agreements and discussions on cooperation in 21 vital sectors, stressing that “the interest is shared, the security is one, and the future is one” between Syria and Jordan.
The Current Phase Is Driving the Relationship Forward
Waiel Olwan, a researcher at the Jusoor Center for Studies, believes Syrian-Jordanian relations in this phase are being built on an urgent and immediate security need, alongside a lasting economic need based on a strategic partnership in all fields.
Olwan told Enab Baladi that the need for bilateral cooperation between the two neighboring countries has imposed this level of coordination at all levels in the current phase, and will continue to do so in the future.
He added that Jordan was among the neighboring countries most harmed by the practices of the former regime. Over the past years, it suffered from the trafficking of terrorism and outlawed groups, the recruitment of cells, and the smuggling and trade of drugs inside Jordan or through its territory to the Gulf, in addition to the threat posed by Iranian groups that had been active in Syria and targeted Jordanian security.
Olwan said Jordan had long tried to find temporary or permanent solutions to these problems without success under the Assad regime, which, he said, consistently blackmailed neighboring countries through trading in chaos and creating undisciplined armed groups that generated many problems for Syria’s neighbors, especially Jordan.
These factors, in Olwan’s view, made the fall of the Assad regime, the political transition in Syria, and the assumption of power by the new government an important development that created a “great opportunity” for Jordan, one it would neither easily miss nor overlook.
“Jordan will seize the opportunity” and work to build strategic relations with Syria’s new rulers based on the highest levels of security cooperation through tools and intelligence sharing, extending into other areas that include integrated economic partnership in multiple sectors, according to Olwan.
He pointed out that this high level of cooperation would create many solutions to problems Jordan had previously suffered from, both domestically and externally. At the same time, it would offer a major opportunity for stability for Syria’s southern neighbor on the security, political, economic, and social levels.
For his part, Syrian journalist and researcher Firas Allawi said Syrian-Jordanian relations have seen notable development in recent times. He noted that the relationship carries different dimensions in which economic, social, and geographic factors overlap, in addition to partnership in some water resources, adding that the current phase between the two neighbors represents a stage of cooperation and coordination.
In Allawi’s view, that gives the relationship between the two sides importance in two ways. The first centers on the support Jordan is providing to the Syrian government during Syria’s current transitional period.
The second, according to Allawi, is linked to the stability that will result from cooperation and coordination in both Jordan and Syria, which will in turn push the two countries toward stronger relations.
Southern Syria as an Extension of Jordan’s Security
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said military and security coordination between the two countries has intensified in recent months and has focused on combating the smuggling of drugs and weapons, stressing that the stability of southern Syria constitutes a shared priority because of its direct link to the security of both countries.
His Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, said Jordan would continue supporting Syria during the reconstruction phase and reject Israeli attacks, stressing that stability in Suwayda and southern Syria is a shared priority.
For Jordan, the stability of southern Syria is the gateway to stability across Jordanian territory, according to researcher Waiel Olwan. He added that stabilizing southern Syria, ending all separatist projects, bringing any outlawed groups or sub-state structures under control, and ending the presence of uncontrolled weapons or drug smuggling are all directly connected to Jordan’s national security from Amman’s perspective.
Accordingly, the issue goes beyond mere chaos in a neighboring country, Olwan said. It concerns Jordan’s internal security and stability, which explains the kingdom’s move toward the highest levels of coordination with the Syrian government, which he described as the guarantor today of Syria’s unity and stability, the end of security disorder, and control over outlawed structures in different Syrian regions, especially in the south along the Jordanian border.
Researcher Firas Allawi said that during Bashar al-Assad’s rule, Jordan was forced to carry out some military and security operations in southern Syria because of the former regime’s policies, which spread chaos along the border between the two countries. That created security problems both on the border and inside Jordan and harmed Jordanian social and economic security.
These past experiences have made the stability of southern Syria a very important factor for the stability of the kingdom because of its impact on Jordan’s national security and stability along its northern border, according to Allawi.
Why the Announced Agreements Matter
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said nine agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed, alongside the launch of joint projects, including activating land corridors with Turkey, reviving the Hejaz Railway, restarting the Arab Gas Pipeline, strengthening electricity interconnection, and coordinating with Saudi Arabia on regional digital connectivity.
He said global economic challenges and supply chain disruptions require faster integration plans, noting that Jordan represents Syria’s outlet to the Gulf and the Red Sea, while Syria serves as Jordan’s gateway to Turkey and Europe.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the announced agreements would affect citizens’ daily lives, adding that trade exchange between the two countries has reached levels close to those seen before 2011.
Researcher Firas Allawi said the importance of the signed agreements stems from the importance of the relationship itself and each country’s need for the other. Implementing the announced agreements, he said, would develop relations and help move away from periods of tension seen in some historical phases between the two countries, such as what became known as “Black September” in the 1970s during the era of Hafez al-Assad.
He said that if such tension were to recur, it would have major negative effects on two countries whose ties are deeply intertwined on several levels.
Therefore, according to Allawi, it is extremely important for Syrian-Jordanian relations to remain stable and positive, ensuring cooperation through economic agreements, political understanding, arrangements related to water security, cultural cooperation, and making use of both countries’ geographic positions, with Syria serving as Jordan’s transit route to Turkey and Europe, and Jordan acting as Syria’s outlet toward the Gulf states.
Waiel Olwan added that the importance of the signed agreements depends on the steps taken to implement them and overcome obstacles that may stand in their way, through governmental flexibility in administrative procedures, overcoming bureaucracy, and creating political will on both sides to move these projects from the stage of signature and announcement to actual execution on the ground.
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