The European Union announced new sanctions list against 25 people and 8 organizations in Syria and the Syrian government condemned the decision

The European Union announced on Monday, imposing sanctions on 25 people and 8 organizations in Syria for their involvement in drug trafficking, according to a statement distributed to the Council of the European Union.

The statement indicated that these procedures came within the framework of the restrictive measures related to the situation in Syria, and the statement claimed that most of the defendants are individuals or organizations involved in the production and trade of drugs, especially Captagon pills.

The sanctions included names Wassim Badi’ al Assad, Samer Kamal al Assad, Mudar Rifaat al Assad, Muhammad Shalish, businessmen Amer Tayseer Khaiti, Abdul Latif Hamida, Samer al Dibs, Ali Najeeb Ibrahim and Taher al Kayyali.

The lists included Wassim Omar al Masalmeh, Imad Abu Zureik, Mustafa al Masalmeh (al Kasm), and Raji Falhout.

The names also included Jihad Barakat, Muhammad Abdo Asaad, Ahmed Ali al Taher, director of the Citadel Company for Protection and Guarding, Osama Ramadan, a partner in the same company, Osama al Maliki, the main owner of AL Jabal Security Protection Company, Fadi Ahmed (Saqr), commander of the National Defense Forces in Damascus countryside, and Ali Muhanna Suleiman, Amjad Youssef al Dhalea, in addition to Jamal Ismail, the former head of Security Branch 227 (the region branch), and Jamal al Khatib, an officer at the same branch.

Among the entities that have been sanctioned are: the Syrian Army 4th Division, Neptunus Company, al Areen Foundation, the Russian Stroy Transgaz Company, the General Company for Phosphate and Mines, AL Jabal Company for Protection and Guarding Services, al Qalaa Company for Protection and Guarding, Services and Aman Company for Protection and Security Guarding.

According to the new sanctions, the number of people sanctioned in Europe due to the situation in Syria has reached 322, who are targeted by asset freezes and travel bans, in addition to 81 entities subject to asset freezes.

The European Union expressed its commitment to finding a lasting and credible political solution to the conflict in Syria in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2254 and the Geneva Communiqué of 2012.

Responding to the European sanctions, the Syrian government condemned on Tuesday the European Union’s imposition of new economic sanctions on persons and institutions associated with it, considering that this would impede the provision of humanitarian aid and reinforce illegal unilateral coercive measures against it, according to Syrian official SANA news agency.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry said, according to SANA, that “the European Union repeats its lies when it claims that the sanctions imposed on Syria don’t impede the provision of humanitarian aid or access to food and medical equipment”.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry considered that these sanctions constitute a serious threat to the lives and livelihood of Syrians and negatively affect the country’s economy.

Following the devastating earthquake, the European Union announced a temporary easing of the sanctions imposed on Syria in order to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the affected areas.

However, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered in its statement that the exceptions that the European Union brags about have no effect at all, but rather are for media propaganda and concealing the truth of its policies towards Syria.