EU to sanction 30 Syrian individuals and firms
(BRUSSELS) - The European Union is set to slap an assets freeze and travel ban on 28 Syrians and two firms in its 20th set of sanctions since the start of the conflict, EU diplomats said Thursday.
"An agreement was found Thursday" by ambassadors from the 27-nation bloc on new sanctions which will be formally announced by EU foreign ministers at talks in Luxembourg on Monday, a senior EU diplomat said.
The measures target people linked to violence against protestors and entities involved in supplying equipment used for repression by President Bashar al-Assad's regime, another diplomat said.
The sanctions will be accompanied by a ban on EU residents buying, shipping, insuring or assisting in any way Syrian companies that trade or transport arms.
The EU has slapped sanctions on 53 entities and 155 people since the beginning of the conflict in March 2011.
The foreign ministers will discuss Syria at a dinner in Luxembourg on Sunday night with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
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