French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called on Syria's new administration to get in touch with a chemical weapons watchdog in order to inspect and eliminate stockpiles of the Assad regime.
Barrot said he would call on the transitional authorities "to appeal to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons so that this organization can quickly send a team to Syria and begin to assess and proceed with the destruction of chemical weapons stocks."
Syria's new de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa received an EU delegation led by German Foreign Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Foreign Minister Barrot on Friday.
Al-Sharaa hosted the ministers in the former palace of toppled long-time Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in the capital Damascus. Al-Sharaa's anti-regime group led a coalition of armed groups that drove Assad from power around four weeks ago.
Al-Sharaa received Baerbock and Barrot at the entrance to the palace at the beginning of a long red carpet.
Baerbock had already stated at the beginning of her visit to Syria that she would continue to judge the HTS by its actions.
She said that, despite all the skepticism, the opportunity to support the people of Syria at this important crossroads should not be missed.
