The European Union: No lifting sanctions on Syria
The European Union has renewed its refusal to lift the sanctions on Syria, with increasing demands by Syrian officials that the sanctions should be lifted, so that the earthquake disaster can be dealt with.
The European Union, confirmed on Monday their refuse to partially or temporarily lift the sanctions imposed on Syria.
An EU official said that sanctions don’t in any way include humanitarian aid.
He pointed out that 10 European countries are ready to contribute to helping the Syrians, through the European mechanism.
At the same time, an official in the German Foreign Ministry claimed that the European sanctions imposed on Syria don’t apply to humanitarian aid or heavy machinery used to rescue earthquake victims and pull them out from under the rubble.
The Director of the Middle East and North Africa Department at the Foreign Ministry, Tobias Tunkel, noted on Twitter that the EU has helped the Syrians over the past twelve years, by sending aid worth 11 billion Euros.
The European Commission’s crisis management official, Yaniz Lenarcic, revealed last week that the Syrian government had requested the activation of the European Union’s civil protection mechanism.
He stressed that “the Commission encourages the member states of the Union to respond to Damascus’ request, by obtaining medical equipment and food, with monitoring, to ensure that any aid won’t be used for other purposes”.
