EU Ramps Up Sanctions Against Assad Regime

The European Union approved tighter sanctions “against Syria’s energy and financial sectors in response to President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on dissidents,” diplomats said. In a joint statement by foreign ministers ”the EU reiterates its condemnation in the strongest terms of the brutal crackdown by the Syrian government which risks taking Syria down a very dangerous path of violence, sectarian clashes and militarization.”  The EU also added “23 more individuals and companies to the list of those under sanction in Syria.” Syria’s membership in the Mediterranean Union, a 2008 initiative of French President Nicolas Sarkozy was also suspended.