Europe may move faster. On January 3rd the French and German foreign ministers met Ahmad al-Sharaa, Syria’s de facto ruler, in Damascus. Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, said it was premature to lift sanctions. In private, though, German diplomats are circulating a proposal which would do just that.

Germany is leading European Union discussions on easing sanctions imposed on the Syrian government of toppled President Bashar al-Assad and aiding the country's population, foreign ministry sources said on Tuesday.

When Green foreign minister Annalena Baerbock presented her “Guidelines for a Feminist Foreign Policy” in March 2023, we wrote that this project, as absurd as it is reactionary, was “ultimately about enforcing geostrategic and economic interests.

During her visit to Damascus, images of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock were shared by the Syrian Telegram channel Almharar, linked to Islamist group HTS.

The call, combined with various promises of economic and constitutional support to the Islamist regime led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaida affiliate, demonstrates how the imperialist powers intend to use Syria’s regime change to step up their war on Russia and prepare an all-out conflict with Iran.

The visit by European ministers symbolizes a significant shift in international diplomacy following years of strained relations between Europe and Syria.

According to the Financial Times, which cited its sources on Tuesday, Germany is proposing that the EU ease some sanctions on the Syrian banking and energy sectors in exchange for social reforms and non-proliferation guarantees.

The French and German foreign ministers have met Syria’s new leaders and called for an inclusive transition of power, in the first visit by European Union ministers to Syria since the Assad regime fell in December.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Thursday in talks in Rome with European counterparts on the need to encourage stability in Syria, officials said, as Turkey threatens Kurdish forces in the war-torn country.

Antony Blinken was heading on Thursday to Rome for talks with European counterparts on bringing stability to Syria in the face of flare-ups with Turkey.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (Social Democrat, SPD) threatened thousands of Syrians living in Germany with deportation. On Sunday, Faeser told the Funke media group that Syrians who had fled to Germany but did not yet have a permanent job or training and “did not voluntarily return to Syria” would now face deportation.