Brussels, 14/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Foreign Affairs Council decided on Monday 14 November to extend EU sanctions against the Syrian regime to 18 additional people, who are “responsible for human rights violations”, banning them from holding a visa for Europe and freezing their assets. This means that 74 people and 19 entities, including the Commercial Bank of Syria, are now under EU sanctions. The EU foreign affairs ministers have also banned the European Investment Bank (EIB) from making “payments linked to existing loan agreements” between the EU and Syria. All new lines of EIB credit are suspended, as is the payment of any new tranches of short credits and technical assistance. These decisions will be published in the Official Journal of the EU on Tuesday 15 November.
On his arrival at the Council on Monday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague pleaded in favour of “additional measures” against the regime of Bachar El Assad “to step up the pressure”. His French counterpart, Alain Juppé, justified the need for increased severity by the “bloodthirsty stubbornness of the Damascus regime”. The Council pointed out that the EU would continue to impose additional sanctions against the regime as long as repression continues.
Support for the Arab League. “The EU welcomes and supports the decisions taken by the Arab League at its meeting of 12 November, which shows the increasing isolation of the Syrian regime”, the European ministers stress in their conclusions, adding that they “welcome the efforts of the Arab League to put an end to the violence and to bring about democratic transition” in Syria. “It is vital to work in close collaboration (Ed: with the Arab League and the UN) to find ways to support the NGOs, for example, who do great work on the ground”, stressed Catherine Ashton before the Council. Meeting on Saturday 12 November, the countries of the Arab League have decided to suspend Syria from the pan-Arab organisation. On Monday, experts met in Cairo to discuss the setting in place of a mechanism to protect civilians in Syria. The European ministers discussed the possibility of supporting the League in this protection, the high representative explained at the end of the Council meeting.
The Council will continue to bring pressure to bear in favour of strong United Nations action to step up international pressure. It called upon all members of the Security Council to take their responsibilities. Juppé called on the UN to find a way of giving the Syrian population “increased protection”. “Today, the time has come to see how we can protect the population more. I hope the Security Council will also end up taking position”, he said. On 5 October, China and Russia issued a veto against a resolution condemning the Syrian regime. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt stressed that “one option for protecting civilians would be to send observers, possibly a UN humanitarian mission”, but a step of this kind would require Syria's approval. No military intervention is planned for the time being. Ashton stressed that the situation is different from that in Libya. “I do not think it is going in the same direction, but we are in the same situation”, she explained. (CG/transl.fl)