Foreign Secretary welcomes changes to EU sanctions on Syria
Changes to EU sanctions on Syria will allow supply of a greater range of equipment to help protect civilian life.
Speaking as he left the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels today, the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, welcomed the agreement reached in the Council to renew the EU arms embargo on Syria for three months and amend it to enable greater non-lethal support and technical assistance for the protection of civilians.
The Foreign Secretary said:
This is an important and welcome step forward. It shows we can change the arms embargo, and the worse the situation becomes the more ready we will be to change it: the embargo will be reviewed again in three months. This step establishes an extremely important precedent, and is an important step in itself. It will allow us now to supply a greater range of equipment to help to protect civilian life in Syria. It will also enable us to give assistance that we’ve been restricted in giving before.
Further information
Foreign Secretary William Hague updates Parliament on the crisis in Syria on 10 January