The French and German foreign ministers are visiting Damascus on Friday to meet Syria’s new leadership and offer a “political new beginning” after the end of decades of rule by the Assad regime.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, are due to meet Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group led a lightning offensive that eventually forced Bashar al-Assad to flee into exile in Russia.
The pair are traveling on behalf of the European Union, which is eager to turn over a new page and start a new relationship with Syria after years of enmity and distrust.
In a statement posted on X, Baerbock said, “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: ‘Goal in Mind’
Baerbock said, “We now have a goal in mind that millions of Syrians also long for: that Syria can once again become a respected member of the international community.”Around a million Syrians live in Germany, most of whom fled to Europe after the failed uprising in 2011 that led to the civil war in Syria.
But Baerbock emphasized there could only be a “new beginning” if Syria’s future government offers people “a place in the political process” regardless of their religious or ethnic background.
Although Syria is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim and Arab, there are sizeable minorities of Christians, Kurds, Druze, and Alawites, the latter group being heavily associated with the fallen Assad regime.
Hundreds of Christians protested in Damascus on Dec. 24, 2024, after an incident in which a Christmas tree was burned in the Hama governorate in central Syria.
One of the protesters, Laila Farkouh, said: “We are protesting to demand our rights and denounce ... the burning of the Christmas tree, and attacks on churches. ... We do not accept this.”
Al-Sharaa, who has been making efforts to distance HTS from its jihadist roots as an offshoot of al-Qaeda, has said Christians will be safe in Syria.
Friday’s visit began with a meeting with Christian religious leaders in Damascus.
Warning About ‘Islamification’
On Friday, Baerbock said the rights of all Syrians should not be undermined by an overly long transition to elections, or by “steps toward the Islamification of the justice or education system.”Baerbock also insisted there should be no acts of revenge against religious or ethnic groups, which is almost certainly an allusion to the Alawite community, which dominated the Assad regime.
The Alawites, who are an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, dominated the security forces in Assad’s Syria, and last week, 14 policemen were killed near Tartous in the Alawites’ traditional coastal heartland by what the state news agency SANA described as “remnants of Assad’s militias.”
But the United States did lift a $10 million bounty on al-Sharaa, which had been imposed when he was considered to be a dangerous Islamist terrorist as leader of the al-Nusra Front, which later renamed itself HTS.
