 "France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (left) and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock visit the Saydnaya prison, north of Damascus, on Friday. Reuters")
The foreign ministers of Germany and France on Friday expressed their desire to establish a new relationship with Syria during their visit to Damascus on Friday, where they met with the de facto new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on behalf of the European Union.
Annalena Baerbock of Germany and Jean-Noel Barrot of France are the first EU ministers to visit Syria since rebels took control of Damascus on December 8, forcing President Bashar al-Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s long-standing rule.
“My trip today…is a clear signal to the Syrians: A new political beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria, is possible,” Reuters quoted Baerbock as saying before she left for Damascus.
Barrot expressed his hope for a “sovereign, stable and peaceful” Syria as he visited Damascus for talks on behalf of the European Union.
“This hope is real” but also “fragile”, AFP quoted Barrot as saying to journalists at the French embassy in Damascus on his first visit to Syria since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Since ousting Assad, Islamist rebels led by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) have sought to reassure Arab countries and the international community that they will govern on behalf of all Syrians and not export Islamist revolution.
Western governments have begun to gradually open channels with Sharaa and HTS, a Sunni Muslim group previously affiliated with Al Qaeda and Islamic State, and are starting to debate whether to remove the group’s terrorist designation.
A host of questions remain about the future of a multi-ethnic country where foreign states including Turkey and Russia have strong and potentially competing interests.
Baerbock said she was travelling to Syria with an “outstretched hand” as well as “clear expectations” of the new rulers, who she said would be judged by their actions.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“We know where the HTS comes from ideologically, what it has done in the past,” Baerbock was quoted as saying.
“But we also hear and see the desire for moderation and for understanding with other important actors,” she added, citing talks with US-allied Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The goal now is for Syria to once again become a respected member of the international community, she added.
“France is committed to a plural Syria in which everyone’s rights are preserved within the framework of common citizenship,” French diplomatic sources quoted Barrot as saying as he met with Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Greek Orthodox and other Christian leaders in Damascus.
Barrot, who also met with the Syrian staff who looked after the French embassy’s closed facilities, said France would work towards re-establishing diplomatic representation in line with political and security conditions, diplomatic sources said.
The two foreign ministers also visited Syria’s most notorious prison, the vast Sednaya complex, an emblem of abuses under deposed leader al-Assad.
With inputs from agencies