European Union Live Blog

6 days 20 hours ago - Syria

Germany and other European countries will ask the UN Security Council to endorse a new Arab League plan aimed at stopping the violence in Syria, the German ambassador to the UN said Monday.

The Europeans want the Arab League's secretary general to discuss Syria "as soon as possible," and the Europeans will seek Security Council "endorsement" of the new Arab League plan, UN Ambassador Peter Wittig said.  [AFP]

Tags Arab League, European Union, Germany, United Nations
1 week 3 hours ago - Brussels
EU foreign ministers adopted fresh sanctions against Syria's military brass on Monday, targeting a large number of security officials on a new list of people and firms hit by a travel ban and asset freeze.
 
Ministers targeted 22 people and eight companies in this 11th round of EU sanctions to protest the ongoing repression in Syria, said a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.
 
"We call again for the violence to stop, for the (Arab League) monitors to be able to do their job unheeded," said European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton as she went into talks with the EU's 27 foreign ministers.
 
"We're deeply concerned with the situation in Syria," she added. "There needs to be a peaceful transition in that country."
 
No details were immediately available on the identities of the new targets.
 
The EU has already agreed 10 rounds of sanctions against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, with some 120 people and companies targeted so far by an assets freeze and travel ban.
 
It is also enforcing an arms embargo and a ban on imports of Syrian crude oil.
 
In December, it expanded its sanctions list to include Syria's finance and economy ministers, state-owned oil companies and two media organisations.
 
The EU move comes after Syria rejected an Arab League plan for al-Assad to transfer power to his deputy and make way for a national unity government.
Tags European Union, sanctions, syria
8 weeks 2 days ago - Syria
EU sanctions against Syria will impact Total's operations in the middle eastern country but the group will continue its oil production there for now, a spokesman for the French oil group said on Friday.
 
"EU factions will have an impact on our operations in Syria," the spokesman said.
 
Total has a 50/50 joint venture with Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) which is not on the list of companies targeted by the EU sanctions.
 
"Total will comply with EU sanctions," he added.  
 
Total has said its oil production in Syria had been trimmed, after Syrian oil exports were banned.
 
[Source: Reuters]
Tags European Union, sanctions, Syrian Petroleum Company, Total
8 weeks 2 days ago - Syria

The European Union imposed sanctions on three Syrian oil firms, including state-owned Syria Trading Oil (Sytrol) and General Petroleum Corporation, as part of its to effort to add financial pressure on the Damascus government over a crackdown on protests.

Tags damascus, European Union, General Petroleum Corporation, sanctions, Sytrol
8 weeks 2 days ago - Syria
A spokeswoman says Royal Dutch Shell PLC has instructed its several dozen employees in Syria to halt work after being required to do so by the European Union.
 
Shell is a minority partner in Syria's state-owned Al Furat Petroleum Company, which the EU blacklisted Friday due to the country's deadly crackdown on protesters.
 
Al Furat produces 13,000 barrels of oil per day - a significant player in the Syrian market- but representing less than half of 1 per cent of Shell's daily global production.
 
The Shell spokeswoman declined to give her name or further details, saying the company plans a statement.
 
In August, Shell rejected requests from Dutch parliament to stop its Syrian operations, saying it would hurt the Syrian people more than its government.
Tags European Union, Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, sanctions, Shell
8 weeks 5 days ago - France

Syria is heading for a humanitarian crisis and the EU, Arab League and Turkey must work together on how to deliver aid, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Tuesday.

"With every day that passes we are getting closer to a major humanitarian crisis," Juppe told lawmakers before a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Thursday. 

"I will ask the European Union on Thursday to bring closer the Arab League, Turkey and the 27 (EU) member states to take initiatives in this direction," he said. 

Tags Alain Juppe, Arab League, European Union, syria, Turkey
9 weeks 1 hour ago - Brussels
The European Union has welcomed unprecedented Arab League sanctions imposed on Syria, casting them as a response to the "brutality and unwillingness to change course" of the Damascus government. 
 
"We welcome and support the decision taken by the Arab League," Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, said on Monday.
 
"Sanctions by the Arab League as well as the restrictive measures applied by the EU are a reaction to the regime's brutality and unwillingness to chance course," she added.
Tags Arab League, Catherine Ashton, European Union, Maja Kocijancic, syria
9 weeks 1 day ago - Syria

The Arab League is set to vote Sunday on sweeping sanctions against Syria, which could include halting cooperation with the nation's central bank and stopping flights to the country.

The 22-nation body will vote on the recommendations at the group's headquarters in Cairo.

If the Arab League were to go ahead with the move, it would be a huge blow for a regime that considers itself a powerhouse of Arab nationalism.

Syria is facing mounting international pressure to end the bloody crackdown on the uprising against President Bashar Assad, which the UN says has killed more than 3,500 people.

The European Union and the United States have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Assad and his regime, including a ban on the import of Syrian oil.  [AP]

Tags Arab League, European Union, UN, United States
9 weeks 4 days ago - Brussels
Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, says protection of civilians in Syria is increasingly urgent.
[Source: Reuters]
Tags Catherine Ashton, European Union, syria
9 weeks 4 days ago - Brussels
Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, says EU stands ready to engage with the Syrian National Council opposition bloc and other democratic opposition groups.
[Source: Reuters]
Tags Catherine Ashton, European Union, syria, Syrian National Council

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