Europe

Europe

EU says to continue to press for strong action against Syrian

03 December 2011 01:51 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The European Union (EU) on Friday says the 27-member bloc will continue to press for strong actions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government for alleged repression in the country, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"As long as the repression goes on, we shall continue to press for strong UN action to ensure the safety and protection of the Syrian people," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement.

Her remarks came after the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a resolution condemning the violence in Syria.

The resolution sent a strong message to the Syrian government to stop the "brutality" against its own people, Ashton said , a day after the EU decided to place further restrictive measures agianst Syria by adding three more oil firms on the list of sanctions against the country .

In a speech during a UNHRC special session on Syria’s situation, the Syrian envoy Fayssal al-Hamwi criticized the UNHR as being subject to the will of some countries that seek to use it to escalate the crisis in Syria.

"It was clear since the beginning of the crisis in Syria that some of the countries sponsoring such futile sessions are ignoring all the work being done by the Syrian government, as well as ignoring the acts of armed terrorist groups," the envoy said.

Meanwhile, a Russian representative regarded the resolution as "one-sided" and "politicized," saying it ignored crimes committed by the rebels and could only lead to aggravation of the situation instead of offering relief.

The request for the special session was made by the EU on Friday morning and was signed by 28 member states of the Council.