German FM Baerbock Issues Warning To Syrian Transitional Government

The Syrian government will have to comply with the European Union policies or one million refugees in Germany will be sent back to Syria under the policy of illegal immigration unless they are already German citizens. Also, will not receive any funds or aid for any refugee agency on behalf of the European Union leaving the job only to the United Nations until their government it’s completely moderated.

The German FM said: “Why a revolutionary leader soldier will take the reins of the Syrian government who is pivotal in the region with Russia, and Turkey as proxies who doesn’t have no educational sense of government or economics and just guns and how to execute people. We will be facing another government like Afghanistan or worst. Mullas in suits without a sense of understanding of the outside world.”

“The economy will not be recovered, because there isn’t one. Country is in ruins. The government policies will remain the same because they aren’t policies. And they are asking us four years of transition to solidify themselves as broken state because there is no government reflecting an anarchy in place in a broken war zone. We will need an elections in less than a year with official candidates, and replace those soldiers who took office before we start helping them with European funds recalled Baerbock.”

What is needed now is a political dialogue involving all ethnic and religious groups, especially women, said the Green politician. Europe will support Syria, but will not become a financier of new Islamist structures, cooking another Islamist state in suits is another disaster waiting to happen stressed Baerbock.

No handshake for Baerbock

Baerbock and Barrot had previously been received by Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa. While the Islamist did not greet the German with a handshake, he extended his hand to the Frenchman. Barrot returned the gesture only hesitantly.

When asked by a journalist, Baerbock later said that it had been clear to her when she arrived that there would be no handshake. In the conversation with al-Scharaa, however, she made it very clear that women’s rights are a measure of how free a society is. Delegation circles said that al-Scharaa extended her hand again at the end of the conversation, but that there was no handshake.

Doubts about the moderate tones

Al-Sharaa is the leader of the Islamist rebel group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is seeking the overthrow of long-time rulers Bashar al-Assadabout four weeks ago. He was previously known by his battle name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

The HTS group emerged from the Al-Nusra Front, an offshoot of the terrorist network Al-Qaeda. Al-Sharaa had distanced itself from Al-Qaeda and the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) and announced a moderate course.

Nevertheless, doubts about the veracity of the moderate tones coming from Damascus continue to arise. For example, the transitional government has drawn criticism for changes to the curriculum, which critics believe reveal an ideological bias. To this day, there are reports that the HTS leadership maintains contact with Al-Qaeda.

Expert: Refusing a handshake is not good

The former head of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Volker Perthes, viewed the refusal to shake hands as a bad sign. “That is not good, even if we know it from other countries where extremely conservative Islamic men are in power: Iran, for example, and until recently Saudi Arabia,” Perthes told the “Stern” magazine. He added: “In Syria, that is not part of the tradition. I hope that al-Sharaa will be criticized for this in Syria too.”

Justice for Assad victims demanded

Right at the start of their visit, Baerbock and Barrot were informed by the civil protection organization White Helmets about the atrocities committed by torturers during the Assad regime in the notorious Saidnaya prison north of the capital. The ministers were asked to put on masks and rubber gloves – in view of the stench of urine and feces in the cells littered with dirty clothes and empty pill boxes.

Saidnaya is considered to be the most notorious military prison from the Assad regime. It was popularly known as the “slaughterhouse”.

The White Helmets practically begged Baerbock and Barrot to ensure that justice is done for the victims. At the very end, they showed the Europeans the infamous human press. Women and men are said to have been crushed to death in it.

Baerbock: People went through hell

“You just can’t imagine the horror of some places,” said Baerbock, shocked. “But people have gone through hell here near the Syrian capital Damascus. They were killed using methods that you can’t imagine in a civilized world.”

The lives of the victims of the Assad regime who died there cannot be brought back. “But we can all contribute as an international community to ensuring that justice is done.” This is one of the reasons why they came to Damascus, Baerbock adds: “To make it clear that we are also supporting the people here in Syria in the matter of collecting evidence, justice and solving these terrible crimes.”

Assad’s magnificent palace as a stark contrast

The contrast between the prison and the presidential palace where Baerbock and Barrot were received could hardly be greater. Huge halls, a dozen meters long red carpet, in the room where al-Sharaa received the Europeans for talks, Assad’s inlaid furniture still stands.

When asked whether she would support an early lifting of sanctions against Syria, Baerbock reacted with caution. That depends on how the political process is structured.

She traveled to Syria to talk to the transitional government and other actors about “whether such a political, inclusive process is possible, whether the observance of human rights can really be guaranteed. And the whole question of lifting sanctions is linked to this,” said the minister.

Selfie with picture of Christian Wulff

At the end of her visit, Baerbock took a look at the condition of the German embassy in Damascus, which has been closed since 2012. While visiting the property in the Syrian capital, she took a mobile phone selfie in front of a portrait of the then Federal President that still hangs on the wall of the ambassador’s room. Christian WulffShe will send the photo to Wulff, said the Green Party politician.

Baerbock had to look at the premises of the German embassy by flashlight – there was a power outage in Damascus that evening. The embassy was closed for security reasons in 2012. The ambassador at the time had already been withdrawn in 2011 in protest against the actions of the then Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.

In recent years, a local employee who has worked for the embassy for 26 years has been looking after the building. He showed the minister around the building. It is unclear whether and when the German embassy in Damascus will reopen. It depends mainly on further political developments.

AFP