Sofia to Host 6th Syria Sanctions Meeting Tuesday

Bulgaria's capital Sofia is to host Tuesday the sixth meeting of the International Working Group on sanctions against Syria, established within the framework of the "Friends of the Syrian People" group.

The meeting will be opened by Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov.

The agenda includes, among other matters, issues related to best practices in the application of sanctions, co-operation between state institutions and the private sector, and the contribution of the IWG to ensuring a swifter recovery of Syria.

At Bulgaria's invitation, the co-chairs of the sixth meeting will be the UAE and Australia. Close to 40 countries so far have confirmed their participation, including the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Qatar, Kuwait, Japan and the Republic of Korea.

"It is expected that the meeting will adopt a final communiqué sending a strong signal that the Assad regime is isolated and the international community strongly opposes violence in Syria," according to a Bulgarian Foreign Ministry press release.