The foreign ministers of Germany and France said they wanted to forge a new relationship with Syria and urged a peaceful transition as they met its de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Friday (Jan 3) on behalf of the European Union.
Germany’s Annalena Baerbock and France’s Jean-Noel Barrot are the first ministers from the EU to visit Syria since rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec 8 and forced President Bashar al-Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war, ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Their trip is meant to send a message of cautious optimism to the Islamist rebels led by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), showing an openness to acknowledging the new rulers while also urging moderation and respect for minorities’ rights.
“Our message to Syria’s new leadership: respecting the principles agreed with regional actors and ensuring the protection of all civilians and minorities is of the utmost importance,” wrote Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, on social media platform X about the trip.
The French and German ministers met Sharaa in the Damascus People’s Palace, but so far no details of their talks have been made public.
Since ousting Assad, Syria’s new rulers have sought to reassure Arab countries and the international community that they will govern on behalf of all Syrians and not export extremist 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 Türkiye and Russia have strong and potentially competing interests.
