Germany’s top diplomat Annalena Baerbock is to meet members of Syria’s rebel-formed transition government, after former Syrian President Bashar Assad was deposed. France’s foreign minister is also on the trip.
Germany Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is in Damascus, Syria on Friday for talks with the country’s new rebel-formed government.
“My trip today — together with my French counterpart and on behalf of the EU — is a clear signal to the Syrians: A new political beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria, is possible,” Baerbock said, according to a ministry statement issued before she left for Damascus.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot is also on the visit to Syria.
It comes after rebel groups in Syria, led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), swiftly gained control over the country, with former President Bashar Assad fleeing to Russia. HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now considered the head of Syria’s transitonal government.
Baerbock has said that the new Syrian government’s relations with Germany and the EU is conditional on women and men of all ethnic and religious beliefs playing a role in Syria’s new political system and that they are protected.
In the days following Assad’s ousting, Western governments had been weighing up how best to engage with Syria’s new leadership considering HTS being under EU sanctions and also a designated terrorist group.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated…
kb/wd (AFP, dpa)
