After more than 10 years of assumption .. Does the European Union lift the sanctions on Syria?

Al -Hurra website wrote: Diplomats expected that the European Union’s foreign ministers would agree, on Monday, to reduce the sanctions imposed on Syria after the overthrow of the Assad regime.

Europe is keen on helping to rebuild the war -torn country, and building bridges with its new leadership after the end of the Assad family, which lasted for more than five decades.

The European Union, which consists of 27 countries, imposed widespread sanctions on the Assad government and wide sectors of the Syrian economy during the war.

A diplomat from the European Union to France Presse stated that there is a consensus on the suspension of sanctions in the energy sector, but he pointed out that there is no agreement to lift the sanctions on the banking sector due to some countries’ concerns about the possibility of “financing terrorism”.

The European Union imposed sanctions on the Syrian regime in May 2011, in response to the violent repression of peaceful protests. These sanctions were extended several times.

Penalties
Prohibition of weapons … preventing the supply of weapons and relevant equipment to Syria.

The ban on oil .. includes the ban on importing oil and oil products from Syria, in addition to imposing restrictions on investing in the Syrian oil sector.

Financial restrictions .. freezing the assets of the Syrian Central Bank in the European Union countries, and preventing Syrian financial institutions from opening branches or companies in Europe.

Restrictions on equipment and technology … prohibiting export of equipment and technologies that may be used in internal repression or to monitor communications.

In addition to the aforementioned sectors, Europe imposed sanctions on hundreds of individuals, officials and entities associated with the defunct system, which included freezing assets and travel ban.

The European Union also imposed more than 10 years ago an arms embargo on Syria, and stopped development assistance and financing operations, within the framework of the cooperation policy that was the existing and loans of the European Investment Bank. The Federation annually provided about $ 220 million of aid and loans to Syria.

Syria was severely affected by the sanctions imposed since 2011, with military battles and bombing operations by the Syrian regime and its allies, which caused the death, wounding, loss of hundreds of thousands, displacement and displacement of millions, heavy material losses in buildings, infrastructure, economic collapse, and difficult living conditions that led the majority of Syrians to the clutches of poverty.