Riyadh . Germany’s foreign minister said sanctions against Syrian officials responsible for crimes during the war should continue but called for the “right approach” to providing relief to the Syrian population after President Bashar Assad’s government was ousted last month. called upon. Annalena Baerbock addressed journalists at a conference on the future of Syria held in Saudi Arabia. Top diplomats from Europe and West Asia participated in this conference.
Germany is one of the countries that has imposed sanctions on the Assad government over its brutal crackdown on dissent. These sanctions could hinder Syria’s recovery from nearly 14 years of civil war. The civil war has killed an estimated 500,000 people and displaced 23 million. “Sanctions against Assad’s operatives who committed serious crimes during the civil war must remain in place,” Baerbock said. But Germany proposes to adopt a right approach to sanctions, which could bring rapid relief to the Syrian population. “The Syrian people now need quick benefits from regime change.”
Baerbock announced an additional US$51.2 million in German aid for food, emergency shelters and medical care. The US, European and some Arab countries began imposing sanctions after Assad’s crackdown on the 2011 rebellion and tightened them as the conflict escalated into a war. The sanctions were imposed not only on senior government officials but also on the country’s oil industry, international money transfers and hundreds of institutions and individuals associated with the Assad government, causing widespread damage to the economy.
