Press Release

Syrian Coalition

March 07, 2015

Following the approval of new sanctions against the Assad regime and its international backers by the European Union, the Syrian National Coalition’s representative to the Benelux and EU, Mouaffaq Nyrabia, said:

“The thirteen new EU sanctions target key individuals, businessmen and companies, and include senior military officials responsible for horrific chemical weapons attacks against civilians. These are people and entities that ensure that the Assad regime is able to continue to slaughter its own population, including George Haswani, who has strong personal ties to Assad, and who the EU has confirmed acts as a middleman in significant oil deals between the regime and ISIL. The Syrian National Coalition welcomes these new sanctions and, in particular, the decision to list the firm ‘DK Group’, a subsidiary of the Russian company ‘Goznak’, that produces the banknotes that help keep Assad’s killing machine operating.

“Until the Assad regime and its main backers – Russia, Iran and Hizballah – feel sufficient pressure, the efforts to secure a political solution, including those of UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, will not succeed. That is why sanctions are an essential tool in the fight against Assad’s tyranny. They place pressure on entities that directly prolong the conflict and the suffering of the Syrian people.

“The Syrian National Coalition will work with its EU partners as they intensify the pressure through further targeted sanctions on the regime’s international weapons suppliers and financiers who fuel the crisis, and members of Assad’s inner circle who are responsible for brutal human rights violations.”