The German Embassy in Damascus has officially reopened.
Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s Foreign Minister, officially reopened her country’s embassy in Syria during a one-day visit to Damascus on Thursday, March 30. Germany had closed its embassy in 2012 amid the civil war in Syria. The German Foreign Minister’s visit came a few weeks after the sectarian massacres against the Alawite minority in the country. Ms. Baerbock said that the recent horrific violence has led to a loss of trust.
The targeted killing of civilians is a terrible crime. She called on the transitional government led by Ahmad Shara to control the actions of aligned groups and hold those responsible accountable. However, she emphasized that we want to support the people of Syria in rebuilding their country alongside our European partners and the United Nations. On Monday, Germany announced that it would allocate 300 million euros to aid in the reconstruction of Syria.
This aid is part of a donor support conference that gathered total commitments amounting to 58 billion euros.