The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, will travel to Syria in the coming days to maintain a first contact with the new authorities of the country after the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime. He will also visit Lebanon, where he will meet with the Lebanese political leadership and the command of the UN Unifil mission.
According to the Department he leads, José Manuel Albares will carry out a new tour of the Middle East which will have two stops, in Lebanon and Syria, just a month after the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime.
The person in charge of Spanish diplomacy will make a first stop in Beirut, where he plans to hold high-level political meetings to address the situation in the country, after resuming this January 9 the parliamentary process for the election of the new authorities to resolve the institutional vacuum that the country has been experiencing since 2022.
Likewise, Albares will address the bilateral relationship and Spain’s solidarity contribution to Lebanon through Spanish Cooperation, which will be a matter that he will discuss with the Lebanese Minister of Health. On the other hand, and as he did last year at this same time, the minister plans to meet with the United Nations Special Coordinator, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the Special Humanitarian Coordinator, Imran Riza, to discuss with them the humanitarian situation that exists in the region.
Also scheduled for the Foreign Minister’s agenda is a new meeting with Spanish General Aroldo Lázaro, head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), as well as with the General Chief of the Lebanese Armed Forces (FAL). , Joseph Aoun. With both you will analyze compliance with the ceasefire agreement reached on November 27, Spain’s support for the redeployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces in the south of the country and the role in this new stage of the Unifil mission, of which Spain is one of the main contributors.
Third EU country to visit Syrian rebels
The next day, the Spanish minister plans to travel to Damascus in what constitutes his first visit to the country, five weeks after the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s regime. Following the European Foreign Ministers of Germany and France, who made a joint visit, Albares comes representing Spain as the third EU country that maintains contacts with the new Syrian administration.
The head of the Foreign Ministry plans to maintain meetings with leaders of the country’s ethnic and religious minorities and with women from civil societyas well as with humanitarian organizations that have been carrying out their work on the ground as a sign of support for a peaceful and inclusive political process. He also plans to visit the Sednaya prison, in memory of the victims of the repression of the Al Assad regime.
Albares also wants to recognize the work of the staff of the Spanish Embassy in Syria with a personal meeting and a visit to the facilities, where he will chair the flag raising. The Spanish flag was lowered with the departure of the Ambassador in 2012 and has not been raised since then.
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