The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, said that her trip to Damascus, the second since the fall of the Assad regime, was aimed at renewing the possibility of “a new political beginning” between the two countries.
Germany reopened its embassy in Damascus, 13 years after it closed at the early phase of the Syrian Civil War.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, reopened her mission during a visit to the Syrian capital, her second trip to the country since the fall of former President Bashar Al-Assad in December.
In a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock declared that his trip aims to renew the message that “a new political beginning between Europe and Syria is possible between Germany and Syria.”
But he added that this comes with “clear expectations that there is freedom, security and opportunity in Syria for all people, for women and men, for people who belong to all ethnic groups and religions.”
Earl this month, the clashes between the loyal fighters to Assad my The forces of the new rulers of the country have caused the worst violence of the waves in the country since the civil war, leaving about 1000 dead, most of which members of the Alauite minority.
Baerbock declared that the transition government of the interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa “has to control the group actions in his own ranks and take those responsible before the courts.”
Earlier this month, the provisional government signed an agreement with the authority led by the Kurds that controls the northeast of the country.
Baerbock praised this “historical” agreement and declared that it is also necessary to include other groups so that they can feel that they are “part of a new Syria.”
However, last month, EU foreign ministers decided to suspend a series of long -range sanctions to help Syria’s economic recovery and reconstruction after almost 14 years of conflict.
The ministers have decided to eliminate five financial institutions (Industrial Bank, Popular Credit Bank, Savings Bank, Agricultural Cooperative Bank and Syrian Arab airlines) of the list of entities subject to the freezing of funds and economic resources and allowing the funds and economic resources to be made available to the Central Bank of Syria.
The EU suspended the measures in the oil, gas, electricity and transport sectors, and has also introduced exemptions to prohibit banks between Syrian banks and EU financial institutions to facilitate transactions for humanitarian purposes and reconstruction, as well as for energy and transport sectors.
The block will monitor the situation in the country to ensure that the suspensions remain adequate. The head of foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, emphasized that “if everything is not going well, we are also willing to replace the sanctions.”
On Monday, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, revealed almost 2.5 billion euros additional European support to Syrians in the next two years.
This amount will be channeled to support Syrians in their country of origin, as well as in neighboring countries, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Türkiye.
