Germany Meets Syria

Foreign Minister Steinmeier is one of the few European leaders who has sought contact with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. When he landed in Damascus, he was primarily toting one thing: a message from the Lebanese government. Steinmeier urged the Syrian president to stop getting involved in Lebanon's affairs and to remain at bay from the current Hezbollah demonstrations in Beirut.

So far, so good: The fear that chaos, violence and instability could break out in Lebanon is justified. But other than the appeals concerning Lebanon, and a few more of his own regarding the Palestinian territories thrown in, Steinmeier didn't take along much else to Damascus. He also did not take much with him when he departed Syria.

Great expectations

All the same, he did travel there himself, which is more than most other European leaders would do. That raised high expectations. Excitement was also high since Steinmeier had canceled his visit there in August at the last minute -- due to verbal fallout from President Assad. In diplomatic circles, that cancellation prompted reactions on par with those following the cancellation of a NASA rocket launch. The situation quickly became extremely tense.

The more profound reason for Steinmeier's precarious mission was difficult to detect. From the start, it was not to be expected that Syria would be impressed by the German foreign minister's visit, much less be influenced by it. Then there was the unease among the governments in Beirut and Tel Aviv about Steinmeier's travel plans, and the danger that Syria could cannibalize the events and use them for propaganda.

Invisible links

The ties between Damascus, Beirut, Teheran, Hezbollah and Hamas are nearly invisible to outsiders -- and they run along lines of mutual dependency right through Syria. They lend a completely different view about the conflicts in the region than the German government has on the issues. That is no reason not to meet up and talk, but it is a reason why the various sides may not see eye to eye.

That is precisely how the visit in Damascus went. It was a polite exchange of opinions and admonitions between Steinmeier and Assad that will not lead them to follow the same path. Unless, of course, the German government gets the chance to have a positive effect on the Middle East conflict when it takes up the European Union presidency in January.

Down the line

Then, it could be advantageous to have met with the Syrian president personally and established contact with him. Any further interpretations into the strategic finesse of German foreign diplomacy concerning this trip would be going too far.

Perhaps the effect of Steinmeier's visit to Damascus lies merely in that he sent signals to the government in Damascus and relayed some opinions that are very unpopular in Syria. The Syrian foreign minister's rhetoric following Steinmeier's talk with Assad, at any rate, did not show that he had pondered some of the German foreign minister's thoughts. Instead, it was wrought with a unilateral view that focused entirely on Syria's own interests. If Syria maintains this stance, there will no second visit to Damascus.

Nina Werkhäuser is DW-RADIO's foreign affairs correspondent in Berlin (als)