Ukraine has joined the European Union’s sanctions on top figures in the Syrian government, which has carried out mass killings of its own citizens and violations of their rights during nearly a decade of war.
In a declaration published by the Council of the EU on April 6, the union added eight more individuals and legal entities as subjects to a vast regime of restrictive measures introduced as far back as May 2013.
According to the declaration, besides Ukraine, the EU sanctions were supported by non-EU nations like North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Moldova and Georgia.
“They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision,” the note reads. “The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.”
As of April 9, the blacklist includes over 230 persons and entities, mainly key Syrian regime figures, including President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, who is also the commander of the Syrian Army’s elite 4th Armored Division and a key figure in the Syrian regime’s Ba’ath Party, as well as numerous other Syrian officials involved in violence against civilians in Syria.
All persons and entities on the blacklist face heavy sanctions by the EU, including funds freezes; bans on transportation transit and the export and import of goods, as well as restrictions in the financial sector and in certain infrastructure projects with EU nations and other countries supporting the sanctions.
The EU initially imposed sanctions on the Syrian regime in 2011 following the government’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests that subsequently escalated into a full-fledged, multisided civil war. Russia, the United States, Turkey, Iran and other countries also intervened militarily in the conflict.
Due to the active involvement of Russia since 2015, the Syrian regime has managed to turn the corner in brutal hostilities against armed opposition and radical Islamist formations and retake control of much of the devastated country.
The war, which has dragged on for nine years, has already claimed at least 380,000 lives, according to international monitors.
