ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Top diplomats from France and Germany arrived in Damascus on Friday to meet Ahmed al-Sharaa, the country’s de facto leader - the highest-level visit by major Western countries since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock will jointly hold talks on behalf of the European Union with Sharaa. 

A lightning rebel offensive spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, led by Sharaa, brought a five-decade-long rule of the Assad family to an end on December 8, in a matter of 11 days.  Soon after Assad’s ouster, Damascus became a hotspot for diplomats’ visits worldwide, with France and Germany already sending lower-level delegations.

"Together, France and Germany stand alongside the Syrian people, in all their diversity,” Barrot wrote in a post on X, adding the two European powers aimed to promote a "peaceful transition”. 

At the start of his visit, Barrot visited the French Embassy in Damascus and later gathered with representatives of Syria’s Christian minorities. 

In Damascus, he expressed hope for a "sovereign, stable and peaceful" Syria.

In a statement, Baerbock said Germany wanted to help Syria become a "safe home" for all its people, and a "functioning state, with full control over its territory".

She said the Friday visit to Damascus was a "clear signal" to Syria of the possibility of a new relationship between Syria, Germany, and Europe as a whole. 

The new rulers in Damascus should avoid "acts of vengeance against groups within the population", to avoid a long delay before elections, and to avert attempts to Islamise the judicial and education systems.

"This must be our common objective," she added.