March 09, 2012 — COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s foreign minister, whose country chairs the rotating EU presidency, said Friday that sanctions against Syria appear to be working, but he urged Russia and China to condemn the Syrian government’s bloody crackdown on the opposition.
Minister Villy Soevndal spoke as he met with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bilt in Copenhagen to discuss the unrest in Syria and other issues. Bilt said the European Union’s priority is to stop Syria “descending into full-scale sectarian war” by focusing on a mission there by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan.
Annan, who has been appointed joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, has called for a dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition. Bildt said, “We are searching truly for a political solution.”
He said Russia is “a key player” in the crisis, noting that his Russian counterpart plans to discuss Syria’s crisis with the Arab League in Egypt this weekend. Soevndal said strong sanctions against Syria “seem to be working” and that pressure should be kept on Russia and China to “play their responsible part.”
In February, the EU froze the assets of seven Syrian government officials and the country’s central bank. The bloc also banned the purchase of gold, precious metals and diamonds from Syria, and banned Syrian cargo flights from the European Union. It was the 12th round of sanctions the EU had imposed on Syria. In the previous 11 rounds, the EU had frozen the assets of more 100 people and 38 organizations, and worked to cut the country’s supply of equipment for its oil and gas sectors.
Despite the 12 rounds of sanctions, in early March EU heads of government issued a statement saying the bloc was “appalled by the situation in Syria” and demanding that Syrian authorities “stop the massive violence and human rights abuses inflicted to the civilian population.”
President Barack Obama has resisted calls to step into the turmoil in Syria to stop Syrian President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on protesters and said the international community has not been able to muster a campaign against Syria like the one in Libya that ousted Moammar Gadhafi. Russia, which is involved in arms sales with Syria, and China have resisted U.N. efforts to criticize Syria.
Obama’s strategy has been to rely on sanctions and international diplomatic isolation to pressure Assad into handing over power. China and Russia have been widely criticized for vetoing two U.N. resolutions that would have condemned the Syrian government’s crackdown and called for Assad to step down.
In Beijing, China announced on Friday that it is sending an envoy to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and France to explain Beijing’s proposal for a cease-fire in Syria. Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said at a regular news briefing that Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Zhang Ming will meet with Arab League leaders during the seven-day trip, which begins Sunday.
China has proposed calling for an immediate cease-fire in Syria and talks by all parties, but it opposes any intervention by outside forces.
