Syrian president to talk war, migrants on Germany visit

BERLIN

This handout photograph released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) arriving to attend the early morning prayers for Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, in Damascus on March 20, 2026.

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa is visiting Germany on Monday for talks on the Middle East war, rebuilding his country and Berlin's efforts to send back Syrian refugees.

Sharaa, on his first trip to Germany since ousting Syria's longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, is expected to meet Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The former Islamist rebel leader has managed to build relations with Western governments and made several overseas trips, including to the United States, France and Russia.

As a result, many international sanctions on Syria have been lifted to help the country rebuild after its bloody 14-year civil war.

German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said Merz and Sharaa would discuss the Middle East war, Syria's political situation and reconstruction efforts, and the return of Syrians to their homeland.

While in Berlin, Sharaa will also join a political and business forum exploring "prospects for economic recovery and the reconstruction of Syria", a German foreign ministry spokesman said.

"With the lifting of numerous EU, U.N. and other sanctions following the end of the Assad regime, the foundations for (economic recovery) have been laid," he said.

Ahead of the visit, the German interior ministry announced a new initiative to provide support to Syria's disaster management ministry and help train emergency services.

Asked whether the talks would also address the case of German journalist Eva Maria Michelmann, who is missing in Syria, the foreign ministry spokesman said Berlin was "looking into" the matter.

Roughly one million Syrians fled their war-torn country for Germany in recent years, many of them arriving at the peak of the migrant influx in 2015-16 to escape the civil war.

The conservative Merz, who took power last May, has stepped up a drive to limit irregular immigration as he seeks to counter the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Merz said last year that, with Syria's civil war over, people from that country now have "no grounds for asylum in Germany".

The government in December resumed deporting criminals to Syria, though only a handful of cases have gone ahead so far.

Merz also said he assumed many Syrians would return home voluntarily, drawing criticism from campaign groups who cite continued instability and rights abuses in Syria.