To facilitate aid to the earthquake zone in Syria, the European Union is temporarily easing its sanctions against the regime in Damascus, the European Council announced on Thursday.

“In view of the gravity of the humanitarian crisis in Syria exacerbated by the earthquake of 6 February 2023, the Council decided to adopt an additional humanitarian amendment to further facilitate the speedy delivery of humanitarian assistance,” said the Council, adding that the amendment applies for a period of six months.

With this amendment, the EU has waived the need for humanitarian organisations to seek prior permission from EU member states' national competent authorities to make transfers or provide goods and services intended for humanitarian purposes to listed persons and entities.

The series of earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 7.8 have killed more than 5,900 people in the northern parts of Syria. However, the figure has not been updated for some time and is not considered reliable. In Turkey, 43,556 earthquake-related deaths were last confirmed by officials. According to Turkish data, there were also more than 8,550 aftershocks.

In 2011, the EU imposed extensive sanctions against the country in response to the violent actions of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad against the opposition and the population. They were directed against more than 290 individuals and 70 organisations.