German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Syria's new leaders Friday not to establish an Islamist government after the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last month.
"Europe will support" Syria in its transition, "but Europe will not finance new Islamist structures," Baerbock told reporters at the end of a visit to Syria.
"This is not only in our own security interests but also what I have heard time and again from very many Syrians in Germany... and here in the region," she added.
Baerbock was visiting the Syrian capital Damascus together with her French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot in the highest-level visit by major Western powers since Islamist-led rebels seized power last month.
After talks with Syrian leader Ahmad el-Sharaa and other officials, Baerbock said she had made clear to them that "women's rights are a yardstick" for progress towards improvements in human rights.
She also called for all Syria's neighbours to "respect its territorial integrity and sovereignty" and said "the security of the Kurds is also essential for a peaceful Syria."
"This requires an end to the fighting in the north and the integration of the Kurdish forces... in the Syrian security architecture."
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, a key Western ally against the Islamic State jihadist group, have been under renewed attack by Turkish-backed factions in northern Syria since late last year.
In the latest clashes around the battleground town of Manbij, at least 24 fighters were killed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said on Thursday, despite US-led efforts to establish a truce in the area.
With AFP
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