Denmark's foreign minister, whose country chairs the rotating EU presidency, said Friday that sanctions against Syria appear to be working, but he urged Russia and China to condemn the Syrian government's bloody crackdown on the opposition, according to AP. Minister Villy Soevndal spoke as he met with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bilt in Copenhagen to discuss the unrest in Syria and other issues. Bilt said the European Union's priority is to stop Syria "descending into full-scale sectarian war" by focusing on a mission there by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan. Annan, who has been appointed joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, has called for a dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition. Bildt said, "We are searching truly for a political solution." He said Russia is "a key player" in the crisis, noting that his Russian counterpart plans to discuss Syria's crisis with the Arab League in Egypt this weekend. Soevndal said strong sanctions against Syria "seem to be working" and that pressure should be kept on Russia and China to "play their responsible part." In February, the EU froze the assets of seven Syrian government officials and the country's central bank. The bloc also banned the purchase of gold, precious metals and diamonds from Syria, and banned Syrian cargo flights from the European Union. It was the 12th round of sanctions the EU had imposed on Syria. In the previous 11 rounds, the EU had frozen the assets of more 100 people and 38 organizations, and worked to cut the country's supply of equipment for its oil and gas sectors. Despite the 12 rounds of sanctions, in early March EU heads of government issued a statement saying the bloc was "appalled by the situation in Syria" and demanding that Syrian authorities "stop the massive violence and human rights abuses inflicted to the civilian population."
