DAMASCUS: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, on Friday visited Damacus marking a political new beginning between the EU and Post-Assad Syria.
Barrot while speaking to journalists at the French embassy in Damascus expressed his hope for a “sovereign, stable and peaceful” Syria. He visited Damascus for talks with new administration in Syria on behalf of the European Union.
This is the highest-level visit by major Western powers since ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied groups launched a lightning offensive last month, seizing Damascus on December 8 and ousting long time ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Earlier, new leader of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa, during an interview with the BBC, had said his country is exhausted by war and is not a threat to its neighbours or to the West.
French and German Foreign Ministers also visited Syria’s Sednaya prison. Accompanied by White Helmet rescuers, Barrot and Baerbock visited the cells and underground dungeons of Sednaya, a symbol of the atrocities inflicted on Assad’s opponents.
Barrot while speaking to journalists expressed called for a “sovereign, stable and peaceful” Syria. He hoped that the aspirations of all Syrians can be realised.
In an interview with FRANCE 24 and a group of foreign journalists last month, Syria’s leader Ahmed al-Sharaa called on Western nations to lift the international sanctions imposed on the country.
In a statement issued before leaving for Damascus, German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock said her visit was “a clear signal” – on behalf of the EU – to open the way for a “new political beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria”.
“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,” she added.
The foreign minister said the goal now is for Syria to once again become a respected member of the global community.
