British diplomats and experts have been looking into the fate of European sanctions on Syrian public institutions or “war profiteers” in a manner that suits possible scenarios of BREXIT.
Meanwhile, German, French and British officials are working to add new members to the European blacklist.
The European sanctions currently include 349 individuals and institutions of the Syrian regime or businessmen close to it.
The recent list issued last month included seven ministers of the government of Imad Khamis, weeks after 11 individuals and private sector institutions that contributed to the reconstruction projects near Damascus were added to the list.
British Prime Minister Theresa May asked the EU for an additional period until the end of June, hoping to pass its exit plan, while European Union President Donald Tusk offered a year.
A British official told Asharq Al-Awsat that this could end in one of two scenarios: first, if Britain left the EU with an agreement and a transitional phase, European sanctions would immediately be transferred to Britain during the interim period.
The second scenario would be leaving the EU without an agreement, which means London will have to adopt European sanctions with an independent British package.
On the other hand, a European official told Asharq Al-Awsat that Germany and France had proposed adding an additional list of Syrian businessmen to the blacklist.
“Sanctions are an important political tool in our Syrian policy. Our goal is not to target the Syrian people, but to send a political message to the Syrian regime and its supporters about the cost of what they are doing,” he said.
He pointed out that there are two priorities for the two current European sanctions: chemical weapons and targeting those who collect money benefiting from the misery and suffering of the Syrian people.
The last package of sanctions against the war profiteers came as a shock to the Syrian regime and its effects were surprising to some Europeans, the official noted.
In addition, regional countries that wanted to normalize relations with the regime were surprised by the European position and the imposition of sanctions.
The sanctions left a political and diplomatic impact, clearly indicating that the EU will not tolerate those who make their fortune by stealing the resources of the country, he explained, pending a credible political solution.
By the end of 2018, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir visited Damascus, UAE and Bahrain opened embassies in the country, and Syrian officials exchanged visits with Oman.
In addition, Director of the National Security Office Major General Ali Mamlouk visited Cairo and recently there have been talks about the Syrian government rejoining the Arab League and Arab contribution to the reconstruction of Syria, add to that, the decision of US President Donald Trump to withdraw troops from eastern Syria and the Kurds' rush to negotiate with Damascus.
However, the mood quickly shifted at the beginning of this year for several reasons, when bilateral and collective Arab normalization with Damascus were ceased, in addition to the several EU countries, including Britain, declaring they do not intend to open embassies in the Syrian capital.
The EU official also indicated that talks are underway with Washington to approve the same sanctions recently adopted by the European Union.
However, Trump later announced that he won’t completely withdraw the troops and has agreed to keep 400 members and work with European countries to send additional troops to “fill the vacuum resulting from the US withdrawal." Washington also suspended dialogue between the Kurds and Damascus.
US and European countries believe that sanctions, legitimacy, and reconstruction are the issues that they have to negotiate with Russia about Syria, according to a European diplomat who agrees with his colleagues.
The diplomat added that by resorting to “strategic patience” with Moscow until it disagrees with Tehran in Syria, it will be more inclined to accept the political solution, reconstruction, and the return of refugees.
