French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called each other on Monday evening about Syria, whose capital Damascus was captured by rebel groups on Sunday. The two European leaders are said to have said at the time that they were “willing to work together with the new leaders, on the basis of fundamental human rights and the protection of ethnic and religious minorities.” The German government reports this to international news agencies.
Scholz and Macron said they “welcome” the fall of Bashar al-Assad as president because he has “inflicted terrible suffering on the Syrian people and caused great damage to his country,” the statement said. Scholz and Macron reacted with relief on Sunday to the fall of the Syrian regime. In contrast, US President Joe Biden said the rebels “have a history of terrorism” and that the US will judge them for their actions. The US is also “determined” not to allow the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) to regroup in Syria.
The rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which led to the fall of Assad, is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. During an urgently scheduled meeting of the UN Security Council on Syria last Monday, according to those present, there was no discussion yet about whether HTS should be removed from that list.
Macron and Scholz warn that any cooperation with the new government in Syria must be based on fundamental human rights, and that ethnic and religious minorities must be protected.