ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Syrian foreign ministry delegation arrived in Bonn on Sunday to finalize preparations for the reopening of Damascus’s consulate general in the western German city, the state-run Syrian news agency reported. The move follows the late March inauguration of the German embassy in Damascus after more than a decade of closure.
In a statement, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said that a “technical delegation” from the Syrian foreign ministry arrived in Bonn, located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, “to finalize the technical and administrative preparations for the reopening of the Consulate General's headquarters.”
SANA added that the delegation is “preparing the infrastructure and necessary equipment for the consulate to begin operations soon,” following its previous work on enhancing consular services at the recently reopened embassy in Berlin.
According to the agency, the restoration of diplomatic missions is part of a broader effort to “strengthen the presence of Syrian missions in Europe and expand consular services across different regions,” with the aim of “providing Syrian citizens abroad with easier procedures and quicker access to legal and administrative services.”
The development comes after Germany formally reopened its embassy in Damascus in late March. Berlin’s foreign minister at the time, Annalena Baerbock, officially presided over the ceremony, ending the embassy’s 13-year closure since 2012.
The reopening of the German diplomatic mission in Damascus came three months after the fall of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Baerbock remarked at the time that “with this embassy opening, we are saying very clearly that Germany is back in Damascus. Germany has a paramount interest in a stable Syria.” She stressed that a "new political beginning" is possible, but conditioned on ensuring "freedom, security and opportunity... for all people" in Syria.
After Assad’s fall, Germany committed to a €300 million (around $350 million) humanitarian aid package to Syria as well.
Importantly, in late August, the German foreign ministry told Rudaw that its aid to Syria is being channeled exclusively through the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, not to the interim authorities in Damascus.
Germany remains the largest host of Syrian refugees outside the Middle East, with approximately 1.28 million people of Syrian origin residing in the country - the vast majority having fled the civil war that began in 2011.
While the peak influx occurred during the 2015 migrant crisis, official figures show that the number of individuals with Syrian citizenship in Germany remains close to one million.
For years, Syrian asylum applicants enjoyed an extremely high recognition rate, often approaching 100 percent. However, the political transition in Syria in late 2024 introduced a major legal pause.
In the wake of Assad’s ouster, Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in December announced a temporary suspension of decisions on new and pending asylum requests from Syrian citizens. This measure was implemented to allow a thorough reassessment of the security situation under the new transitional government.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser then remarked, "The situation in Syria is currently very unclear. The evolving security and political landscape in Syria necessitates a halt to all processing. We must ensure our protection decisions are based on the current realities on the ground."