The European Union today renewed its sanctions against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for another year. The sanctions — which ban oil imports, certain investments, technology transfer that could aid the regime in repression and freezes Syrian Central Bank assets inside the EU — were first initiated in 2011.
Why it matters: The Trump administration has rallied its allies to keep up sanctions on the Assad regime and not to provide reconstruction money to Damascus after nine years of civil war.
