German and Austrian ministers cancel Syria trip because of possible terrorist threat
The 2 ministers had deliberate to talk with the inside and overseas ministers of Syria’s interim authorities and with representatives of UN companies.
The German and Austrian inside ministers have cancelled a deliberate journey to Syria due to a potential menace to their delegation, German authorities mentioned.
Germany’s Nancy Faeser had deliberate to go to Damascus along with her Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner on Thursday, with a German army aircraft set to fly Faeser’s delegation into Syria from Jordan.
However her ministry mentioned that the 2 ministers determined to interrupt off the journey earlier than the flight may depart from Amman “due to concrete warnings by German safety authorities of a terrorist menace”.
It added in an emailed assertion {that a} menace to the delegation itself could not be dominated out and that it might have been irresponsible to go.
The journey hadn’t been introduced forward of time.
The 2 ministers had deliberate to talk with the inside and overseas ministers of Syria’s interim authorities and with representatives of UN companies.
Germany specifically has been a serious vacation spot for Syrian refugees over the previous decade, with the Inside Ministry saying nearly one million Syrians at the moment reside within the nation.
German officers mentioned the deliberate talks had been presupposed to centre on safety points and on “views for the return of Syrian refugees in case of stabilisation and peaceable improvement in Syria”.
Faeser prompt in January that some Syrian refugees in Germany could need to return residence below sure circumstances.
The Inside Ministry additionally mentioned that Germany and Austria are engaged on discovering a technique to deport Syrians who’ve dedicated severe crimes or are deemed a safety menace again to their homeland as quickly as potential.
Final week, Germany’s Overseas Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Damascus and reopened the Germany embassy there, 13 years after it was shut within the early days of Syria’s civil warfare.
Baerbock, who met interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and others, mentioned her journey was meant to resume the message that “a political new starting between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria is feasible”.
