The self-proclaimed Syrian interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Muhammad al-Jolani), arrived in Berlin on Monday. There, he was welcomed with open arms by Chancellor Merz. It was a historic moment, as the last state visit by a Syrian president to Germany took place 25 years ago.
Relations between Germany and Syria had been virtually frozen since at least the start of the civil war (2011); even the German embassy in Syria remained closed for over 13 years. However, the moment Ahmed al-Sharaa took power in Syria, that changed abruptly. As early as January 3, 2025—not even a month after Assad’s fall—then-Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock flew to Syria to discuss the future of German-Syrian relations. It quickly became clear that the German government would do everything in its power to portray the new Syrian leader to the public as a legitimate president and an honest democrat—ISIS past and Al-Qaeda membership notwithstanding.
Two issues are of paramount importance to the German government in this normalization process: the question of repatriating Syrian migrants to Syria and the question of Syria’s economic opening.
Just a few hours after the news of Assad’s overthrow was announced, the debate over possible deportations to Syria began in Germany. Now that the war is supposedly over, the dictator has been driven out of the country, and a flawless model democrat like Ahmed al-Sharaa is holding the reins, there would seem to be no reason left to flee Syria. It is only a matter of time before deportations from Germany to Syria resume “on a large scale.” After the meeting, Merz announced that around 80 percent of the approximately one million Syrians living in Germany are to be deported. The transitional government also hopes for repatriation in order to benefit from workers trained in Germany.
The numerous massacres and the rampant sectarian violence in al-Sharaa’s Syria play no role in this. Neither the massacres of the Alawites nor those of the Druze or the Kurdish people seem to interest the German state in the slightest. Even in recent days, there have been witch hunts against Christians. It has found in al-Sharaa a partner who serves its own interests and is more than willing to ignore all the crimes of the new Syrian transitional government as long as this results in an advantage for the interests of the Federal Republic.
This—at least hoped-for—benefit is often of an economic nature. One of the transitional government’s first official acts was to open the Syrian economy to foreign, primarily Western, investment. Whereas the Assad regime had largely nationalized the Syrian market, particularly the raw materials industry, and banned Western investment in the country, al-Sharaa took a different path. He fully opened the market and made it available to the capital of Western monopolies. In return, he received millions in economic aid and a lifting of the oppressive sanctions. Germany, too, has already intensified its “economic dialogue” with Syria. For example, talks have already taken place between Siemens and Syrian Energy Minister Mohamed al-Bashir to discuss “investment opportunities in energy infrastructure.” On Monday, Damascus was promised 200 million euros “for the support and reconstruction of Syria.” Economy Minister Katherina Reiche announced that she sees “great potential for German companies” in Syria. This applies, for example, to the energy sector, the construction industry, mechanical and plant engineering, IT, software solutions, and security technologies.
Thus, the meetings between Friedrich Merz, other German representatives, and Ahmed al-Sharaa followed the same pattern as the entire previous relationship between the two governments. Merz was willing to ignore everything—both al-Sharaa’s former affiliation with Al-Qaeda and his ties to ISIS, as well as his government’s numerous massacres and human rights violations—in order to reach agreements that serve the Federal Republic’s strategic interests. At the press conference in the Chancellery, the kidnapping of journalist Eva Maria Michelmann was not mentioned. Al-Sharaa responded to the question about the persecution of minorities with platitudes that contradict the current situation in Syria. Even though Syria’s diversity is consistently emphasized, the numbers tell a different story. On the same day, evidence of a mass grave east of the city was discovered in Aleppo. It is said to contain 270 bodies. According to the UN, over 10,000 Alawites were murdered in March 2025. Furthermore, government troops carried out massacres in Suwaida in July 2025, in which 1,500 people, mostly Druze, were killed.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz thanked al-Sharaa for reaching an agreement with the Kurds and stated that he was confident that “violence against minorities and those with differing views is a thing of the past.”
A view that, based on the last 15 months in Syria, is difficult to believe.
