THE HAGUE, Netherlands—30 January 2026—The Hellenic Republic has voluntarily contributed EUR 100,000 to the Trust Fund for Syria Missions of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The voluntary contribution was formalised on 19 January 2026 in a signing ceremony held between the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Hellenic Republic to the OPCW, H.E. Ms Caterina Ghini, and the OPCW Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, at the Organisation’s Headquarters in The Hague.
Ambassador Ghini stated: “Greece has decided to contribute 100,000 Euros to the Trust Fund for Syria Missions of OPCW and stands ready to provide further assistance, in particular training, for the enhancement of the means and resources of Syria. This contribution reflects our firm commitment to multilateralism, to the complete elimination of chemical weapons, and to supporting the vital work of the OPCW under challenging circumstances.”
The Ambassador further stated: “Our contribution is also an expression of solidarity with the Syrian people and of our conviction that international cooperation remains essential to addressing complex security and humanitarian challenges. In this regard, we express our full support for the OPCW in the impartial, professional and rigorous execution of its mandate.”
The Director-General stated: “I wish to express my deep appreciation to the Hellenic Republic for its strong commitment to upholding the norms and principles of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). In light of the current economic, humanitarian, and security situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, international financial contributions such as the one of Greece today are essential to support the OPCW’s ongoing efforts to bring an early end to the Syrian chemical weapons dossier.”
“Our task in Syria is at the core of the Convention—namely, the verifiable declaration and irreversible destruction of chemical weapons possessed by a State Party. The outcome of these efforts will participate in reducing the risk of proliferation and contribute to international peace and security,” he added.
Greece’s contribution to the Trust Fund for Syria Missions will support OPCW’s missions and activities to determine the full scope of Syria’s chemical weapons programme, as well as investigations of alleged chemical weapons use and the identification of perpetrators in the Syrian Arab Republic.
Background
Greece has been an active member of the OPCW since 1997 and is currently a member of the Executive Council.
To date, Greece has contributed a total of more than EUR 489,000 voluntary contributions to several OPCW trust funds, including the Trust Fund for a Centre for Chemistry and Technology.
Syria acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 2013 under a stringent verification regime. While Syria submitted an initial declaration of its chemical weapons (CW) programme, the former Syrian government did not declare all its CW programme and attempted – unsuccessfully – to mislead the international community about the overall scope and scale of the Syrian chemical weapons programme. Furthermore, the Technical Secretariat documented and independently confirmed chemical weapons use in Syria both by the former Syrian military forces and by non-state actors, specifically ISIS/ISIL.
The fall of the Assad government in December 2024 created an opportunity to uncover the full scope of Syria’s chemical weapons programme and to eliminate it in line with the CWC. In February 2025, the OPCW Director-General visited Syria and held separate meetings with the Syrian President and Foreign Minister. They expressed Syria’s recognition of all OPCW mandates, including the identification of perpetrators of chemical weapons use in Syria and reaffirmed Syria’s full commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the CWC. In March 2025, the Syrian Foreign Minister visited the OPCW and addressed the Executive Council, where he renewed Syria’s commitment to the Convention.
Since the visit by the Director-General to Damascus in February 2025, the OPCW Technical Secretariat deployed several times to Syria, involving visits to suspected locations, sampling, interviews, collection of documents related to Syria’s chemical weapons programme, and coordination.
As the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, the OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently eliminate chemical weapons. Since the Convention’s entry into force in 1997, it is the most successful disarmament treaty eliminating an entire class of weapons of mass destruction.
In 2023, the OPCW verified that all chemical weapons stockpiles declared by the 193 States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1997 — totalling 72,304 metric tonnes of chemical agents — have been irreversibly destroyed under the OPCW’s strict verification regime.
For its extensive efforts in eliminating chemical weapons, the OPCW received the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize.