Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alvarez will make an official visit to Lebanon and Syria early next week.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that Alvarez’s first stop will be Lebanon, where he will meet with the country’s political leaders.

The Spanish minister will visit the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the statement added.

Alvarez will then travel to Syria to meet with representatives of the new government that took power after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on 8 December.

Alvarez will also meet with representatives of some civil society organisations of ethnic and religious minorities in Damascus, the statement said.