Post date: Jul 23, 2012 3:5:22 PM
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (RECENT) (REUTERS) - European Union governments agreed on Monday (July 23) to strengthen their arms embargo and increase sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as the conflict between his government and rebels escalated towards civil war.
EU foreign ministers increase sanctions and discuss post-Assad Syria.
At a meeting in Brussels, EU foreign ministers imposed asset freezes and travel bans against 26 more people and banned EU companies from doing business with three more entities, expanding the lists of targets of EU measures.
In addition, under new embargo rules, EU governments will be required to search airplanes and ships suspected of carrying weapons or other banned equipment into Syria.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that the time had come to start thinking about how to help a post-Assad Syria.
"We have discussed issues that regard the transitional government because the situation is such that one has to think about trying to gather a representative government to take over from Bashar al-Assad. Generally, we agree to say that we have to maintain efforts to bring down this regime. Twenty thousand people dead, now. Twenty thousand people dead. One has to imagine the humanitarian situation over there. It's 40 degrees. There is no longer any electricity. Obviously no more water. An awful situation," Fabius said in Brussels where the ministers had agreed on the sanctions.
EU foreign ministers also discussed how to help people escaping the violence in Syria, in particular to neighbouring countries such as Lebanon and Jordan.
Cyprus has already drawn up plans to take in up to 200,000 refugees - equivalent to a quarter of the population of the Republic of Cyprus, representing a huge burden on the economically troubled country.