German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on Thursday Germany was expelling four diplomats from the Syrian embassy in Berlin after the arrest of two men suspected of spying on regime opponents.
German police arrested two men in Berlin Tuesday accused of spying on opponents of the Syrian regime in raids involving some 70 officers, federal prosecutors said.
Germany's foreign minister heaped criticism on Russia and China on Saturday over their veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution aimed at ending the violence in Syria, calling it a "veto against the Syrian people."
A group of Syrian dissidents vandalised the Syrian embassy in Berlin on Friday, destroying furniture and defacing pictures of President Bashar al-Assad. Germany's Foreign Office condemned the intrusion "in the strongest terms."
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called on Tuesday for the UN Security Council to act "urgently" on Syria, telling a Cairo news conference a strong text on the crisis was "absolutely important."
The number of people seeking asylum in Germany has jumped to its highest point in eight years, although it is still well below early-90s levels, a newspaper report said Tuesday.
Germany UN envoy has accused Russia of preventing the UN Security Council from taking decisive action over the deadly crackdown on anti regime protests in Syria.
A Berlin local politician active in the Syrian opposition was attacked by two men in his home, police said Tuesday, in a case the German foreign ministry said it was following closely.
Germany's foreign ministry said Thursday it had summoned Syria's ambassador to Berlin to demand an immediate halt to the "brutal" repression of anti-regime demonstrators by government forces.
Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle and his Italian counterpart Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata called for an end to violence in Syria and Egypt after talks on key European issues in Rome Sunday.
A group of about 30 demonstrators stormed the Syrian embassy in Berlin overnight Sunday and confronted the ambassador to Germany, police said, following similar protests in other European capitals.
Germany on Wednesday lamented the failure of the United Nations Security Council to agree a resolution on a bloody crackdown in Syria that has left 2,700 dead, saying it had undermined the body's authority.
Despite far-reaching sanctions against the Syrian government for its brutal crackdown against a civilian uprising, Germany is still offering development aid to the Middle East country. The Green party has expressed reservations.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday jointly urged Syria's embattled leader Bashar Al-Assad to step down.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will forfeit legitimacy if his regime continues to carry out acts of violence against demonstrators in his country, the German government warned on Monday.
The leaders of Germany and France joined US President Barack Obama on Friday in pledging to consider new steps to punish Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and his government over "indiscriminate" attacks on civilians.
Germany has called for the UN Security Council meet urgently on Monday to deal with the Syrian government crackdown on demonstrators that reportedly left 80 people dead on Sunday.
German diplomats have met with Syrian opposition figures in Damascus and Berlin in recent weeks as the EU demands an end to a crackdown on protesters, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned Syria on Tuesday that it would face tighter European Union sanctions if it continued its brutal crackdown against anti-government protests.
Ernst Uhrlau, head of the German intelligence agency BND, said in an interview on Sunday that Berlin is not expecting swift regime changes in either Libya or Syria.
The German government on Monday slammed "shocking" deadly crackdowns on peaceful demonstrators in Syria and called on Damascus to stop "grave human rights violations."
Another 144 Iraqi refugees are on their way to Germany on Tuesday as part of a European Union’s plan to welcome some 10,000 asylum seekers from the country.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged Syria on Tuesday to do its part to ensure the success of Middle East peace efforts and said "destructive elements" in the region needed to be reined in.
