The Council of the European Union has adopted a new resolution regarding sanctions imposed due to the situation in Syria, removing several state and security agencies from its restrictive measures list.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, citing foreign media reports, the decision was officially published in the EU's official journal on May 19. The document outlines a significant shift in the scope of the restrictive measures previously applied to Syrian governmental structures.
The list of delisted entities includes the Political Security Department, the General Intelligence Directorate, the Military Intelligence Department, and the Air Force Intelligence Directorate. Furthermore, the Syrian Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology have also been removed from the blacklist. These changes were implemented as part of amendments to the EU sanctions regulations originally established on January 18, 2012.
The European Union first introduced restrictive measures against Syria in 2011 in response to the civil unrest and subsequent conflict in the country. These sanctions typically include asset freezes, travel bans, and restrictions on trade in goods that could be used for internal repression. The periodic review of these lists is a standard procedure within the EU's foreign policy framework, aimed at ensuring that the measures remain targeted and relevant to the evolving political and security landscape in the Middle East.
