Denmark reopens Syria embassy after years long closure: state media

• “A new chapter is being written in Syrian-Danish relations, and this step encourages the rest of the European countries to invest in Syria and follow suit,” Shaibani said

Updated 31 August 2026 22:27

AFP

August 31, 2026 18:24

DAMASCUS: Denmark reopened its embassy in Damascus on Monday after a yearslong suspension of diplomatic activities that began after Syria’s civil war erupted, state media reported.
SANA said that Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, accompanied by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, reopened the outpost “after a 14-year-long break.”
“A new chapter is being written in Syrian-Danish relations, and this step encourages the rest of the European countries to invest in Syria and follow suit,” Shaibani said, according to SANA.
Several European countries shut their embassies and cut diplomatic ties with longtime ruler Bashar Assad after his government brutally repressed pro-democracy protests in 2011, triggering nearly 14 years of civil war.
Syria’s new authorities, who toppled Assad in December 2024, have relaunched diplomatic ties with the international community including countries in Europe, where hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled as refugees during the conflict.
Last month, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa announced an agreement with his visiting French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to install new ambassadors after the French embassy in Damascus closed in 2012.
In July of 2025, Britain re-established full diplomatic relations with Syria more than a decade after cutting ties.
And in March that year, Germany officially reopened its embassy in Damascus during a visit by its foreign minister, two months after Spain raised its flag at its embassy, also in the presence of its visiting top diplomat.
Turkiye and Qatar, key allies of Syria’s new authorities, were the first to reopen their missions in Damascus after Assad’s toppling.