Three senior EU diplomats said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad canceled special visas for diplomats and union officials traveling regularly between Beirut and Damascus, complicating efforts to distribute aid to war victims.
Since the outbreak of the Syrian conflict in 2011, the European Union has been using the Lebanese capital, Beirut, Syria's closest major city, as its diplomatic base, while most of its embassies in Damascus have been closed to protest what he calls the brutal Assad attack on the opposition.
But EU diplomats said the Syrian government had canceled the special permit, which is used to obtain multiple entry visas to Damascus, from early January without giving an explanation.
EU diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they believed it was an attempt to force European governments and the bloc to reopen embassies in Damascus as the Syrian army restored control of much of the country with support from Russian and Iranian forces.
"It is a serious problem for EU humanitarian assistance," one diplomat said. "This is an action that affects diplomats, staff of European embassies and EU institutions."
This comes at a time when the Union announced on Monday to expand the list of sanctions imposed on the Syrian regime by adding 11 businessmen and 5 companies working in luxury real estate projects, and other projects benefit the system.
The list of European sanctions on the Syrian regime includes 72 companies and 270 people, including sanctions imposed on them to freeze funds and prevent them from entering the European Union.
The sanctions imposed by the Union on the Syrian regime include a ban on Syrian oil, restrictions on certain types of investments, a freeze on the assets of the Central Bank of Syria in Europe, and a ban on imports of equipment and technology that can be used in repression.