The interior ministers of Germany and Austria on Thursday cancelled a planned trip to Syria because of a possible threat to their delegation, German authorities said. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said a terrorist threat had been signalled from German security authorities.
Faeser was planning to visit Damascus with her Austrian counterpart Gerhard Karner. A German military plane was due to take Faeser’s delegation to Syria from Jordan on Thursday morning. However, her ministry said the two officials decided to cut the trip short before the flight left Amman “due to specific warnings from German security authorities about the terrorist threat.”
The emailed statement also said that a threat to the delegation itself could not be ruled out and that it would be unwise to travel given the signal.
The European ministers’ trip was not announced in advance. The two ministers planned to hold talks with the interior and foreign ministers of Syria’s interim government and with representatives of UN agencies.
Germany has become a major destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade. The German Interior Ministry said the talks scheduled for Thursday were to focus on security issues and “the prospects for the return of Syrian refugees in the event of stabilisation and peaceful development in Syria.”
It also said Germany and Austria were working to be able to deport Syrians who had committed serious offences or were considered a security threat back home as soon as possible.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Damascus last week and reopened the German embassy in the country 13 years after it was closed in the early days of Syria’s civil war.
