EU sanctions against Syria too late

The EU decided on Monday to freeze the accounts of 13 relatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and impose a ban on their entering the EU as well as a weapons embargo against Syria. These sanctions come too late, writes the liberal daily Sme: "How is it possible that these sanctions against some of the highest representatives of the Syrian regime are only being imposed now and that they don't apply to President Assad himself? How is it possible that the EU's weapons embargo was passed only on Monday even though the unrest began two months ago? Both are just gestures, but they should have come earlier, as the clear signals that European politicians are always talking about. ... The reason for this delay lies paradoxically in the so-called common European foreign policy. It has had a negative impact on the EU's capacity to act at an international level because agreements among the major member states must always be laboriously negotiated before any action is taken."

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