Suspending the past: Lebanon and Syria suspend joint council, signaling a new phase in ties

Report by Yazbek Wehbe, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi  

During Syria’s political and military tutelage over Lebanon from 1990 onward, Damascus entrenched its dominance at the expense of Lebanon’s sovereignty. 

A cornerstone of that control was the “Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination,” signed on May 23, 1991, by Lebanese President Elias Hrawi and Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. 

The treaty paved the way for 42 agreements and cooperation protocols between the two countries up to 2010, some of which were ratified by parliament and others left pending, many of which were viewed as unfair to Lebanon.

The accords granted Syria wide influence over Lebanon’s security, economy, and resources, including agreements on the distribution of Orontes River waters, free trade in locally produced goods, and agricultural cooperation. These deals sparked public backlash, as young Lebanese protesters opposing Syrian control were suppressed, while farmers and industrialists complained that the terms made fair competition impossible.

Syria’s recent decision, endorsed by Lebanon, to suspend the work of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council marks a major political shift. The move stops short of full cancellation, which would require a legal act passed by both the Lebanese Parliament and the People's Assembly of Syria, since laws can only be repealed by other laws. Therefore, the suspension is seen as a politically significant step awaiting legal formalization.

A key question now arises: what will happen to the existing agreements? 

According to legal experts, they must be reviewed, with the most inequitable ones either annulled or amended to restore balance, a process that also requires parliamentary approval.

Under the Vienna Convention governing international treaties, any agreement signed under threat or coercion, in violation of the United Nations Charter, is deemed invalid. This provision applies to the 1991 Treaty of Brotherhood and Cooperation, which was concluded under Syrian military domination.

Although Lebanon and Syria established formal diplomatic relations in 2008, the Higher Council remained in place, as Syrian allies in Lebanon resisted its dissolution. 

However, its work had effectively frozen since 2012, when the Arab League suspended Syria’s membership following the outbreak of the Syrian uprising.

While the recent suspension requires legal measures to terminate its remaining effects, politically it signals the end of a long and contentious chapter in Lebanese-Syrian relations, and the beginning of a new phase that calls for clearer, more balanced, and truly sovereign ties between two neighboring independent states.