Christoph Heusgen, the head of the Munich Security Conference, urges the German government to provide swift diplomatic, humanitarian, and legal support to Syria. The former UN ambassador believes that debates about the return of Syrian refugees in Germany to their homeland are premature.
“We should reopen our embassy as soon as possible” Heusgen told the ‘Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland’. He also emphasized the need to support the protagonists of the HTS rebel group, which originated from the Syrian branch of the al-Qaida terrorist network, in a moderate course, without being overly critical. Heusgen warned, “We should show a rapid and possibly European presence before radical forces exert pressure again and Russia gains influence.”
The former diplomat called for caution in the debate about Syrian refugees. Many of them want to return to Syria, “but it is completely unrealistic to expect an immediate return in a situation where Turkey is militarily active on one side and Israel on the other, and no one knows what the new government will look like.” The country is at a low point after the long civil war, the humanitarian situation is catastrophic, and many people are afraid of a civil war breaking out. “Furthermore, a significant part of the Syrians in Germany have become very well-integrated here.” In Germany, over 6,000 Syrian doctors are already working.