German embassy in Syria reopened after 13 years

A good three months after the fall of the Syrian long -term ruler Bashar al Assad, Germany has a message in Syria again.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock opened the representation, which was closed in 2012 after the beginning of the civil war, during her visit to the capital Damascus. A low single -digit number of German diplomats should now work on the stabilization and the reconstruction of the heavily destroyed country. Since not all security measures have yet been completed, you also work from other locations, said the Greens politician.

Baerbock had promised the Syrians of the Syrian’s persistent humanitarian aid and a further loosening of sanctions – but only under certain conditions.

“A new political beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria is possible,” said the outgoing minister. “But this is also associated with clear expectations that freedom, security and opportunities in Syria apply to all people – for women and men, for members of all ethnic groups and religions.”

In December, the Syrian long -term ruler Assad was overthrown after almost 14 years of civil war by a rebel alliance led by the Islamist group Halat Tahrir al Sham. Now the country is led by a transitional government around President Ahmed al Scharaa, from which one does not yet know where it is going. Just two weeks ago, a military campaign against Assad supporters in the coastal region in the northwest of the country had caused new distrust with hundreds of dead.

In the German embassy in Damascus, 25 to 30 sent diplomats and around 20 local employees used to work. It was a medium -sized representation abroad. In 2012 it was closed for security reasons and has been empty since then. When Baerbock visited the building on the first visit to Damascus after the fall of Assad in January, a picture of the former Federal President Christian Wulff (term 2010 to 2012) was still on the wall. In recent years, a local employee has taken care of the building, who has been working for the message for 26 years.

The representation is now to be directed by the diplomat Stefan Schneck, who then acts as a business authority. An ambassador should only be named later.

With the presence on site, for example, the important contact with civil society can be better maintained and react directly and directly to serious undesirable developments, according to the Federal Foreign Office. As in recent years, the issue of Visa should take over the message in Lebanese Beirut.

The previous embassy building can currently only be used for discussions. The day -to -day business takes place in another place that is kept secret for security reasons. It is still open whether the message can be used again at some point.

This also depends on the further development of the situation in Syria. The country is far from pacified. At the beginning of the month, armed supporters of the fallen Assad government attacked security forces, to which the transitional government reacted with great military operation. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, around 1,500 people are said to have been killed, a large part of them.

The transitional government saw an attempt by the Assad Loyalists behind the outbreak of violence to plunge the country into a new civil war. The aim of the military campaign is said to have been predominantly Alevis, a community of faith that also belongs to Assad. The observation center spoke of real “massacres”.

Baerbock called the targeted killing of civilians a “bad crime” and asked the transitional government to hold the responsible persons accountable. At the same time, she called for the Assad crimes. “To pacify the country to continue to combat germ cells of extremism and terrorism, to decisively promote the political transition and to quickly offer people economic perspectives – that is the mammoth task in front of which the Syrian transitional government is under Ahmed al Scharaa,” she said.

Note: This text has been updated and further information was added.