German and Austrian ministers cancel Syria trip because of possible terrorist threat

Euronews

27-03-2025

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The German and Austrian interior ministers have cancelled a planned trip to Syria because of a possible threat to their delegation, German authorities said.
Germany's Nancy Faeser had planned to visit Damascus with her Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner on Thursday, with a German military plane set to fly Faeser's delegation into Syria from Jordan.
But her ministry said that the two ministers decided to break off the trip before the flight could depart from Amman "because of concrete warnings by German security authorities of a terrorist threat".
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser speaks during a session of the German parliament in Berlin, 31 January, 2025
AP Photo
It added in an emailed statement that a threat to the delegation itself couldn't be ruled out and that it would have been irresponsible to go.
The trip hadn't been announced ahead of time.
The two ministers had planned to speak with the interior and foreign ministers of Syria's interim government and with representatives of UN agencies.
Germany in particular has been a major destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade, with the Interior Ministry saying almost a million Syrians currently live in the country.
German officials said the planned talks were supposed to centre on security issues and on "perspectives for the return of Syrian refugees in case of stabilisation and peaceful development in Syria".
Austrian Interior Minister Gerhard Karner attends a press conference in Vienna, 8 August, 2024
AP Photo
Faeser suggested in January that some Syrian refugees in Germany may have to return home under certain conditions.
The Interior Ministry also said that Germany and Austria are working on finding a way to deport Syrians who have committed serious crimes or are deemed a security threat back to their homeland as soon as possible.
Last week,
Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Damascus
and reopened the Germany embassy there, 13 years after it was shut in the early days of Syria's civil war.
Baerbock, who met interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and others, said her trip was meant to renew the message that "a political new beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria is possible".