Germany and the European Union have ruled out diplomatic rapproachment with the Syrian government despite the war-torn country's recent return to the Arab League.
Germany's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that there is no basis for normalizing relations with Syria.
The Syrian regime under President Bashar al-Assad continues to commit egregious human rights violations against its own people on a daily basis and is blocking the political process, a spokesman for the German Foreign Office said in Berlin.
"In this respect, unfortunately, nothing has changed in the reality on the ground which would allow us to provide support for things like reconstruction or to lift sanctions," the spokesman said. "And from our point of view, Syria currently does not meet any of the prerequisites for a dignified return of refugees."
The EU position on Syria "has not changed," EU foreign policy spokesman Josep Borrel said in Brussels on Monday.
"That means: no normalization of the relations, no reconstructions without normalization, no lifting of sanctions until there is a meaningful movement on the side of the regime to remove all the reasons for which the parts of the regimes has been sanctioned.""We will discuss again with member states at approriate level already this week the latest decision of Arab League and the potential implications also for us," he added.
Over the weekend, Arab countries ended the diplomatic isolation of the Assad regime, which was expelled from the Arab League in 2011 because of the extremely violent crackdown on its own people.
The uprisings plunged the country into a bloody civil war which remains ongoing more than a decade later. More than 350,000 people have died and more than 14 million have been displaced by the fighting.
According to the United Nations, more than 90% of the Syrian population now lives below the poverty line.
In recent months, several Arab officials have travelled to Damascus, while Syria's top diplomat has visited some Arab countries, signalling a likely end to the pariah status of al-Assad's government.
Last month, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan visited Damascus and met al-Assad, marking the first such trip to Syria in more than a decade.
The Arab rapprochement with the Syrian government comes as Saudi Arabia, which previously supported the rebels, and Iran, one of al-Assad's main allies, agreed to restore ties in March.
