German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Berlin next Tuesday to discuss the political transition in Syria and the return of migrants to their homeland, a German government spokesperson said on Friday.
“We have an interest in deepening relations and, if you like, making a fresh start with the new Syrian government. We have many important issues to address … One example is the return of Syrians to their home country,” the spokesperson said.
The meeting comes nearly a decade after Merz’s predecessor, Angela Merkel, welcomed around one million refugees to Germany, many of them Syrians fleeing civil war. Since then, the rise of the far-right and growing public concern over migration have led Merz’s conservative CDU party to adopt a stricter stance on border security and deportations of failed asylum seekers. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians in Germany still hold only temporary residence permits.
The visit marks Sharaa’s first trip to Germany since he and his Islamist-led forces ousted former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Sharaa has conducted several foreign visits as his transitional government seeks to restore ties with countries that distanced themselves from Damascus during Assad’s rule.
Violence in Aleppo, where Kurdish forces resist Sharaa’s attempts to centralise control, has complicated Syria’s post-war reconstruction. The German spokesperson said Berlin would address the unrest during the talks.
“The key question remains how the political transition will be shaped so that all social groups can live in safety and participate equally in political and social life,” the spokesperson said. “It is one of the key topics we are discussing with the Syrian government.”
Reuters/Victoria Ibanga