Europe's oil boycott will hurt Syria

The European Union took the decision to boycott oil exports from Syria on Friday. A justified step, comments the liberal daily NRC Handelsblad: "Europe doesn't have many alternative means of putting Syria under pressure. The French government may be making contact with the Syrian opposition, but this remains a mainly symbolical gesture. And a Libya-style intervention is out of the question. There can be no talk of a broad-based rebel movement in Syria. ... An embargo can be very effective even though Syria isn't a major energy producer - petrol makes up only a quarter of its exports. But about 90 percent of it goes to the EU. ... Precisely because Syria is largely dependent on the EU regarding its oil exports and European companies play a key role in this area there is a logical basis for a common embargo policy. It's a start. But it probably won't be the end of Assad."

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