The EU is aware of the jihadist nature of the Syrian Government but will judge it by its next actions

The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, and her French counterpart, Jean-Noël Barrot, acknowledged this Friday that they are fully aware of the jihadist nature of the new Syrian authorities of Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), but they have admitted that Right now the need for security of the country’s population prevails before warning that Berlin, Paris and Brussels will judge the organization “for its future actions.”

“We know where the HTS comes from ideologically, what it has done in the past,” explained Baerbock after starring, together with Barrot – both representing the EU – in a meeting with the jihadist leader and current strongman of the country, Ahmed al Shara (alias ‘Abú Mohamed al Golani’).

“But we will continue to judge HTS by its actions. Despite all the skepticism, we must not miss the opportunity to support the people of Syria at this important crossroads,” he stressed.

Baerbock has also asked this Friday the Syrian Kurdish-Arab militias that lead the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to be integrated into the new security organization prepared by the country’s jihadist authorities in exchange for guarantees of protection for the Kurdish minority in Syrian Rojava (northeast).

“All of Syria’s neighbors must respect the integrity of the country. For this, the Kurdish militias must be integrated into the Syrian security apparatus,” he explained.

In statements collected by the Kurdish Rudaw agency, Baerbock has also called for an end to the fighting that the FDS is currently having with Syrian militias backed by Turkey in the north of the country.

In the previous hours, Baerbock and Barrot have been able to visit the Syrian Sednaya prison, one of the symbols of the repression of the former government of former Syrian president Bashar al Assad, overthrown last month in the rebel offensive led by the jihadist organization alias ‘ Al Golani’.

During a visit to the prison, on the outskirts of Damascus, the politician recognized the impossibility of restoring the lives of the thousands of victims who died there, many of them political prisoners. “But we can all contribute as an international community to guarantee that justice is done,” he argued in comments collected by the DPA agency.

The minister recalled that Germany and the European Union (EU) have supported organizations such as the White Helmets and the UN in recent years in collecting evidence to guarantee justice and clarification of the facts.

“That’s exactly what we want to continue,” he commented. “That is why we are here, among other things, to make it clear that when it comes to gathering evidence, delivering justice and investigating these terrible crimes, we are also on the side of the people in Syria,” he added.

Previously, upon his arrival in Damascus, Baerbock declared that “a new political beginning is possible between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria.”

The prerequisite, he specified, is that all Syrians, women and men, regardless of their ethnic or religious group, have a place in the political process, have their rights guaranteed and receive protection.

The German minister stressed that the rights of women and minorities must be protected and “must not be undermined by excessive delays before the elections or by measures to Islamize the justice or education systems”, after alias ‘Al Golani’ estimated, this past weekend, that the transition process in Syria could last up to four years due to the need to draft a new Constitution and complete a new census.

FRANCE CALLS FOR A “PEACEFUL AND INTEGRATIVE” TRANSITION

In a subsequent statement, the French Foreign Ministry — which describes in this note the current government as the “de facto authorities” of Syria — offers its “experience” to “support the constitutional work resulting from the national conference,” before remember that the SDF are allies in the fight against the Islamic State.

“The ministers reiterated the necessary safeguarding of collective security interests, which implies continuing the fight against Islamic State, but also preventing the spread of the chemical weapons of the (Al Assad) regime,” the French Foreign Ministry explained in your statement.

Both diplomats also “reiterated the need to end the fighting in northern Syria and find a solution that preserves the security interests of all, including our Kurdish partners in the Syrian Democratic Forces.”

France also assures that it has received from the “de facto authorities” their commitment to fight terrorism, host “soon a mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)” and “work to protect the Syrian-Lebanese border.” “.

Finally, “France and Germany have committed to providing their technical knowledge in criminology to support the fight against impunity for the crimes of the Al Assad regime,” the statement concludes.