Europe tries to build ties with Syria and cut Putin’s influence
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Germany’s Annalena Baerbock and her French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot (left) are the highest-ranking Western officials to go to Syria since Mr Bashar al-Assad was ousted.
PHOTO: AFP
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The European Union stepped up efforts to build ties with Syria’s new leaders and persuade them to reduce Russia’s influence over the war-ravaged country, with a visit by the German and French foreign ministers to Damascus.
Germany’s Ms Annalena Baerbock and her French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot held talks with Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Jan 3. They were the highest-ranking Western officials to go to Syria since Mr Sharaa’s Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December.
Ms Baerbock said the EU wants to help Syria achieve “an inclusive, peaceful transfer of power” and with reconstruction efforts. She acknowledged it will be “a rocky road”.
HTS does not yet control all of Syria and it will probably be years before the country is stable enough to hold elections. Moreover, many Syrians and Western nations remain wary about HTS, which was affiliated with Al-Qaeda until 2016.
It says it has moderated and will treat all people under its rule fairly. The US, which sent officials to meet Mr Sharaa in December, has lifted a US$10 million (S$13.7 million) bounty on him but still designates HTS as a terrorist organisation, as do the EU and UK.
“There can only be a new beginning if the new Syrian society gives all Syrians, women and men, regardless of ethnic or religious group, a place in the political process, grants rights and offers protection,” Ms Baerbock said in an e-mailed statement before her visit.
For Berlin, the relationship with HTS is of added importance because it wants some of the roughly one million Syrians who migrated to Germany under Mr Assad’s rule to return to the Arab country.
Since toppling Mr Assad, a long-standing dictator whose government was notorious for torture and other abuses, HTS has reached out to non-Muslim communities to reassure them of their rights and freedoms.
“We know where HTS comes from ideologically, what it has done in the past,” Ms Baerbock said. “Despite all the scepticism, we must not miss the opportunity to support the people of Syria at this important crossroads.”
She also called on Russia to abandon its military presence in Syria. The Kremlin maintains two key facilities in the country – a naval port in Tartus on the Mediterranean coast and a nearby air base at Khmeimim.
Bloomberg has reported that talks are under way between Moscow and HTS to allow the Russian forces to stay.
Their exit would be a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was a crucial ally to Mr Assad, reducing his influence in the Middle East and making it harder for Moscow to manage its military operations in Africa.
Ms Baerbock, who said she and Mr Barrot are in Syria representing the wider EU, accused Mr Putin of covering up crimes by Mr Assad’s regime during the Syrian civil war.
“The Syrian people will not forget the massive bombings and human rights violations,” she said. “Germany and its international partners are also committed to ensuring that the internal Syrian process is not disrupted from outside.”
Ukraine is also trying to build ties with Syria and President Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan 2 said it wanted to restore diplomatic relations.
