Using the written procedure, the Council of the EU added ten people on Thursday 27 October to the list of people and bodies subject to EU sanctions against the Syrian regime.
In a press release, the Council says these people are “responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, benefiting from or supporting the regime, and/or being associated with such persons”.
“The persons added to the list include high-ranking military officials and senior figures linked to the regime”, says the Council. A travel ban and a freezing of assets have been decreed. A European source says they are military, politicians and business people.
The legal acts will be published in the Official Journal on 28 October 2016.
This decision follows the Foreign Affairs Council conclusions of 17 October 2016 and the European Council conclusions of 20-21 October 2016 (see EUROPE 11651). On 17 October, EU foreign ministers announced that the EU would take rapid action to introduce new sanctions against Syrians and Syrian bodies supporting the regime (see EUROPE 11647).
This decision brings to 217 persons the total number of persons targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze for being involved in the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria. Sixty-nine bodies are subject to an asset freeze. Sanctions currently in place against Syria include an oil embargo, restrictions on certain investments, a freezing of the assets of the Syrian central bank within the EU, export restrictions on equipment and technology that might be used for internal repression as well as on equipment and technology for the monitoring or interception of internet or telephone communications. The sanctions shall apply until 1 June 2017 (see EUROPE 11560). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)