European Ministers added on Monday 8 Syrian individuals and 2 companies to the Syria sanctions list, whose activities directly benefited the President's Bashar al-Assad's regime, including through projects located on lands expropriated from persons displaced by the conflict.

The sanctions list now includes 277 persons and 71 entities targeted by a travel ban and an asset freeze, with the list being reviewed annually.

EU sanctions against Syria, first imposed in 2011, foresee an oil embargo...