(Bloomberg) -- 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 Annalena Baerbock and her French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, held talks with Syria’s de-facto leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, on Friday. They’re the highest-ranking Western officials to go to Syria since al-Sharaa’s Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last month.
Baerbock said in a statement before departing Berlin that the EU wants to help Syria achieve “an inclusive, peaceful transfer of power” as well as with reconstruction efforts, and acknowledged it will be “a rocky road.”
“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,” she added.
Barrot said in a post on X that France and Germany “stand with the Syrian people, in all their diversity” and were keen to promote “regional stability.”
After the talks, Baerbock said that while Europe is prepared to offer its support, it won’t be “the sponsor of new Islamic structures.”
“It was very clear after a very lengthy discussion that it’s understood that the inclusion of all different groups, and especially of women and different groups such as the Kurds, in all transitional structures is a key point,” Baerbock, who is a member of the Greens, told reporters in Damascus.
HTS doesn’t yet control all of Syria and it will probably be years before the country’s 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’s moderated and will treat all people under its rule fairly. The US, which sent officials to meet al-Sharaa last month, has lifted a $10 million bounty on him but still designates HTS as a terrorist organization, as do the EU and UK.
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 Assad’s rule to return to the Arab country.
Since toppling 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,” Baerbock said. “Despite all the skepticism, 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.
Some Group of Seven nations and allies are exploring ways to enable Syria to find alternatives to imports of Russian oil and food, according to people familiar with the matter.
Ukraine sent Syria a shipment of wheat last month. Like the EU, it is trying to build ties with the new leaders in Damascus and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Thursday said he wanted to restore diplomatic relations. They were cut in 2022 after Assad backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Bloomberg has reported that talks are underway 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 Assad, reducing his influence in the Middle East and making it harder for Moscow to manage its military operations in Africa.
Baerbock, who said she and Barrot were in Syria representing the wider EU, accused Putin of covering up crimes by 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.”
--With assistance from Volodymyr Verbianyi and Arne Delfs.
(Updates with post-meeting Baerbock comments starting in fifth paragraph.)
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