Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Alliance90/The Greens) reopened the German embassy in Damascus on March 20. This was reported by German media and the website of the Federal Foreign Office. The embassy had been closed since 2012 due to the civil war.
However, the embassy in the Syrian capital is still hardly accessible to the public, according to the Federal Foreign Office. Anyone who needs a new passport or the legalization of a document is still referred to the German embassy in Beirut. Syrians who wish to apply for a Schengen visa must continue to contact the visa offices of the German embassies in Amman, Beirut, Riyadh, Cairo, Kuwait and the consulates general in Erbil and Istanbul. The staff of the German embassy in Damascus are not working in the building for security reasons. The travel warning for Syria remains in place:
www.auswaertiges-amt.de/de/service/laender/syrien-node/syriensicherheit-204278
It is Baerbock’s second visit to Syria since the change of power. The minister, who was accompanied by CDU politician Armin Laschet, met with the interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa, among others. Her current trip to Syria and Lebanon is the minister’s last trip abroad. She will no longer be a member of the new government after the parliamentary elections.
Baerbock is calling for an investigation into the atrocities committed by Islamists against the Alawite minority in recent days. At the same time, however, she also urged an investigation into Assad’s crimes. Germany is contributing 300 million euros to the 5.8 billion euros in aid pledged at an international donor conference in Brussels. The money will go to UN aid organizations and non-governmental organizations.
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