JEDAH (SAUDI ARABIA), 15 May. (DPA/EP) –
The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, has assured this Monday from Saudi Arabia that the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad, should not be rewarded for the violation of Human Rights due to the normalization of diplomatic relations of the Arab countries with Damascus .
“For more than ten years there has been nothing but bloodshed, incredible human suffering that is barely reported,” Baerbock said, adding that in Syria “the political process to resolve the conflict is still some way off.”
Baerbock’s remarks come shortly after a meeting on Monday with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan, in the city of Jeddah, where an Arab League summit is to be held, which is expected to be attended by the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad.
Baerbock has further stated that Germany and Saudi Arabia seek to deepen their bilateral cooperation. “There is very good potential in renewable energy and green hydrogen, as well as in the field of solar and wind energy,” she added.
Relations between Germany and Saudi Arabia have been estranged following the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashogi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and Yemen’s civil war, which prompted Angela Merkel’s government to ban arms exports to Riyadh.
However, the current German government has approved the delivery of weapons for 44.2 million euros in 2022, the highest figure since 2018. Before Baerbock, the last time a German foreign minister traveled to Saudi Arabia was in 2017 .
