German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Damascus on 20 March and announced the reopening of Germany’s embassy in the Syrian capital. The embassy has been closed since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2012.

Meeting with Kurdish representatives

Baerbock also used her one-day visit to the Syrian capital to meet with representatives of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) to discuss the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)-Damascus deal and the interim constitution, amongst other issues.

“The security of the Kurds is essential for a peaceful Syria,” Baerbock said. The German FM expressed a hope for the ending of the conflict between the SDF, Turkey and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) in northeast Syria.

Germany has welcomed the March deal between the SDF and Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s interim Syrian government, which agreed to incorporate the SDF within state forces in exchange for a recognition of Kurdish rights within the Syrian state.

The AANES and Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) have criticised the new draft constitution for failing to protect the rights of minorities, allowing state repression and lacking a broad national consensus. The draft also allows the current interim government to rule unelected for the next five years.

Concern over recent massacres

Baerbock expressed deep concern over the massacres of Alawites in Western Syria, which has claimed 1,500 lives in the past weeks.

“The horrific outbreaks of violence two weeks ago have caused a massive loss of trust,” said Baerbock ahead of the visit. “The targeted killing of civilians is a terrible crime.”

Baerbock called on Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s caretaker government to ensure that those who perpetrated the massacres are prosecuted.

Many people “are scared that life in the future Syria will not be safe for all Syrians,” she continued.

Baerbock: ‘Germany has a paramount interest in a stable Syria’

But Baerbock contended that Germany’s interests were better served by having a presence on the ground in Damascus, a significant softening of her previous stated position of distrust for the new Damascus government.

“Germany has a paramount interest in a stable Syria. We can better contribute to the difficult task of stabilisation on the ground,” she said.

“We can build important diplomatic contacts and thus, among other things, push for an inclusive political transition process that takes into account the interests of all population groups,” Baerbock concluded.