Denmark reopens Damascus embassy after 14-year suspension

Denmark reopened its embassy in Damascus on Monday, Syria's official news agency SANA announced, the latest in a series of diplomatic reopenings following more than a decade of interrupted activities due to the civil war.

The event took place in the presence of Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Syrian counterpart, Asaad al-Shaibani, according to SANA, marking the end of "a 14-year suspension" of the diplomatic mission.

"A new chapter in Syrian-Danish relations is being written, and this step encourages the rest of European countries to invest in Syria and follow this example," Shaibani said, according to SANA.

Several European states had closed their embassies and severed diplomatic ties with Syria in response to the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests by Bashar al-Assad's government in 2011, which plunged the country into nearly 14 years of civil war.

After ousting Assad in December 2024, Syria's new authorities have worked to rebuild ties with the international community, including European countries that took in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees during the conflict. 

Last month, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced an agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to Damascus, to appoint ambassadors. The French embassy in the Syrian capital had closed in 2012.

The United Kingdom fully restored diplomatic relations with Syria in July 2025, after more than a decade of interruption. Earlier that year, Spain raised its flag over its embassy in Damascus in the presence of its foreign minister, and Germany reopened its embassy, also attended by its top diplomat.

Turkey and Qatar, key allies of Syria's new authorities, were among the first to reopen their missions in Damascus in the days following Assad's fall.