German Foreign Minister
Syrian Telegram channel pixelates Baerbock and interpreters in photos
First Annalena Baerbock was refused a handshake, now she is pixelated in photos. The German Foreign Minister’s trip to Syria is causing more and more attention.
Annalena Baerbock’s visit to Damascus clearly shows the new Syrian government’s problematic approach to women. First, the de facto ruler and head of the Islamist rebel group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ahmed al-Sharaa, refused to shake the hand of the German Foreign Minister upon her arrival at the presidential palace for presumably religious reasons. Now Baerbock is said to have been made unrecognizable in HTS social channels, as reported by the verification team of the news channel ntv.
Accordingly, the HTS-affiliated channel “Almharar” is said to have published four pictures of the official appointment of Baerbock and the German-French delegation in Damascus on Friday evening. In contrast to the faces of his male counterparts, Baerbock’s face is pixelated. Two other women who were apparently interpreters who were present during the appointment were also made unrecognizable. According to ntv, this emerges from a comparison of the images with recordings on other channels.
Annalena Baerbock sees women’s rights as a sign of freedom
For the German Foreign Minister, women’s rights are the yardstick for freedom in a society. Demanding these rights is tough realpolitik, Baerbock told “Funke Medien”. “The more seriously women’s rights are suppressed, the more authoritarian and extremist a society as a whole becomes,” explained the Foreign Minister.
Baerbock also made it clear that there would be no EU funding for Islamist structures in Syria – which she also made “more than clear” to the leaders of the HTS militia. “Anyone who deprives half of the population of their rights will also be ethnically and “I hardly pay any attention to religious groups and can never exploit the country’s economic potential,” said the Green politician.
Together with her French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, Baerbock traveled to Damascus last week for talks with the new Syrian government. They are the first European foreign ministers to visit Syria after the fall of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Transparency note: Der stern and ntv belong to RTL Deutschland.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
