Overview
- Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul toured devastated areas such as Harasta and said voluntary returns of large numbers of Syrian refugees are not realistic in the near term.
- Germany announced up to €52.6 million in additional humanitarian aid for Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, including roughly €39.4 million for Syria, €5.25 million for Lebanon and €8 million for Jordan.
- Berlin will add €4 million to the Syrian reconstruction fund, bringing Germany’s total contributions to €110 million as the World Bank counts reconstruction needs in the hundreds of billions.
- The Interior Ministry confirmed that Syrians who travel back to their homeland will generally lose protection status in Germany, rejecting proposals for short, exploratory home visits.
- Wadephul met Lebanese leaders and German UNIFIL personnel, urged progress on Hezbollah disarmament, and said Berlin remains in contact with Syrian authorities about returning individual serious offenders.