英闻天下——450 EU Foreign Ministers Debate on Syria Embargo

 　　Foreign Ministers from the European Union are divided over whether to lift an arms embargo¹ on Syria in order to help the Syrian rebels.

 

　　Britain and France want the embargo eased to aide rebels fighting against President Assad's government forces.

 

　　But most other countries stand behind Germany's cautionary stance, and are worried this will escalate² the violence in the war-torn country.

 

　　Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore:

 

　　"My view and the view of the Irish government is that the further militarisation of the situation in Syria would not be helpful. It is our view that it would lead to further casualties, that what we need to do, is we need to support a political solution, a peaceful solution and we need to ensure that the humanitarian³ aid that we have committed to providing to the people of Syria, that that is delivered effectively and soon."

 

　　Meantime, France and the UK expressed concern over what they said was Assad's willingness to use chemical weapons.

 

　　The Syrian government and rebels accused each other of using such weapons in a rocket attack near Aleppo earlier this week that killed 26 people.

 

　　However, a U.S. official has said it increasingly appeared that a chemical weapon was not used.

 

　　The current EU embargo runs out in May.

 

　　Last month the bloc⁴ did amend⁵ the rules to allow shipments on non-lethal equipment, such as armoured vehicles, to the rebels.

1 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

2 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

5 amend   

vt.修改，修订，改进；n.[pl.]赔罪，赔偿

参考例句：

• The teacher advised him to amend his way of living.老师劝他改变生活方式。
• You must amend your pronunciation.你必须改正你的发音。