Berlin divided over call for Syria peacekeeping force
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government was sharply divided on Tuesday by defence minister Annegret Krampkarrenbauer’s surprise call for international troops to secure northeast Syria.
The initiative had provoked “a certain degree of irritation” among Germany’s NATO allies, foreign minister Heiko Maas said.
Maas represents Merkel’s centre-left coalition partners the SPD, while Kramp-karrenbauer is leader of the chancellor’s conservative CDU party.
Turkey’s military intervention in northeast Syria, as well as Russia’s backing for the Damascus regime, mean “there are high hurdles for any internationalisation of the solution to the conflict,” Maas said.
For now, Berlin “has engaged with efforts to resolve the conflict” with “diplomatic and humanitarian” means, he added.
There had been “no discussion” of an international mission to northeast Syria with Germany’s allies, Maas said, recalling also the failure of a similar plan for northwestern Syrian region Aleppo in late 2016. junior,
Kramp-karrenbauer had told broadcaster Deutsche Welle on Monday that a “security zone” could allow international forces, including European troops, to “resume the fight against terror and against the Islamic State” group (IS) as well as “stabilise the region so that rebuilding civilian life is once again possible”.
The defence chief is keen to involve Bundeswehr (German army) soldiers, although a rare foreign deployment would have to be in line with international law and secure approval from parliament.
Europe and Germany must “come up with our own recommendations and initiate discussions,” rather than being “simply... an onlooker” Kramp-karrenbauer said. She added that she had already floated her proposal to the British, American and French defence ministers and would discuss it further at a meeting of the NATO alliance in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
Kramp-karrenbauer’s call for military intervention came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin on Syria.
BERLIN HAS ENGAGED WITH EFFORTS TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT WITH DIPLOMATIC AND HUMANITARIAN MEANS