Syria’s new leader shuns German FM's handshake during Damascus visit For second time

Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, once again failed to shake hands with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, marking the second such incident during her visit to the Arab country.

The diplomatic snub occurred during Baerbock's visit to Damascus, where she was accompanied by Armin Laschet, a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Caliber.Az reports via German media.

Both Baerbock and Laschet were received without any formal gestures of greeting, though the exact reason for the lack of a handshake has not been disclosed.

This was not the first time the interim Syrian president, al-Sharaa, has declined a handshake with Baerbock. During her first visit to Syria in early January, when she was joined by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, al-Sharaa also refused to shake her hand. The gesture, or lack thereof, was met with confusion and criticism in Germany.

On March 20, Germany reopened its embassy in Damascus, marking a pivotal step in the restoration of relations between Syria and Germany. The embassy, which had been closed since 2012 following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war, was formally reestablished by Baerbock during her recent visit to the Syrian capital.

This move signals a shift in Germany’s approach to Syria, which has undergone a transformation since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad. The German embassy’s reopening follows Assad’s ouster and marks a moment of rapprochement between the two nations.

Germany is home to a large Syrian diaspora, with more than one million Syrian residents, many of whom fled the country during the brutal civil war. The conflict came to a formal end late last year with the overthrow of Assad, who sought refuge in Russia as his regime crumbled following a lightning offensive by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

Since then, Syria has been under a transitional government led by al-Sharaa, which is focused on restoring security and rebuilding the country’s economy after over a decade of conflict.

By Tamilla Hasanova