Germany’s Baerbock Humiliated: Denied Handshake (Again) By Syrian Leader

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Syria on Thursday for the second time since the overthrow Bashar al-Assad three months ago. She was there for talks with the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its self-declared President Syrian Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (Al-Qaeda name: Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), as well as to oversee the re-opening of the Germany embassy in Damascus which closed back in 2012, in protest of the Assad government.

„A new political beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria, is possible,” declared Baerbock while emphasizing this must include freedom, security and equal opportunities for all Syrians, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or religion. And yet, for the second time, Sharaa refused to shake her hand. Watch:

Meanwhile #Europe, represented by Baerbock, is again humiliated by former terrorist Al-Julani. He again refused to shake hands with #Baerbock during a visit to Damascus. #Syria pic.twitter.com/baUzQBIhtR

— Maimunka News (@MaimunkaNews) March 21, 2025

This is Europe being humiliated once again by the very armed group it helped put into power. Islamic extremists refuse to have any contact with women who are not their wives or family members.

Being a hardline Islamist, the Syrian leader avoided all physical contact with the foreign dignitary, other than simply pointing her to her chair.

She went to Damascus despite that a similar scene had played out in early January, which Politico dubbed ’Hand-shake Gate in Syria’. The male dignitary she had been traveling with was offered a handshake, however:

She came to advocate the rights of women and minorities. She left without a handshake. The Syrian leader’s refusal to offer a greeting handshake during a visit to Damascus this week was predictable, Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

The incident nonetheless prompted a vigorous online debate over global political greeting protocols, as well as the label “handshake scandal” by German daily Bild, as Baerbock’s traveling partner, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, was offered a handshake.

She still had tried to write off that January encounter as some kind of protest win. „As I traveled here, it was clear to me that there would obviously be no ordinary handshakes,” Baerbock had said in the aftermath.

„But it was also clear … that not only I but also the French foreign minister did not share this view. And accordingly, the French foreign minister did not extend his hands,” she stressed.

Just walk ten paces behind a man?…

The Janurary visit: SANA via AFP

So it sounds like Germany is simply bowing to the dictates of Sharia law and fanatical, Wahhabi Islam – in the aftermath of Europe and the US having supported regime change in Syria – but none of this comes as a great surprise.