A 29-year-old Syrian refugee, Ryyan Alshebl has been elected as the mayor of a village in Germany.
He stood as a non-party candidate to become mayor of Ostelsheim in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg.
The municipality declared him the winner Sunday evening after polling the majority of the votes – 55.41 percent.
29-year-old Alshebl defeated non-party candidates Marco Strauß and Mathias Fey.
The member of the Green Party said his experiences in the election campaign were “mostly positive”.
As mayor, Alshebl disclosed he planned to move to Ostelsheim in the district of Calw.
ALSO READ:Finland Joins NATO On Tuesday – Stoltenberg
He fled the town of Sweida in the south of Syria in 2015 and joined the administration of Althengstett town hall in 2016.
Alshebl is probably the first Syrian mayor in the south-west of Germany.
According to the Association of Municipalities of Baden-Württemberg, there has been no other candidate with Syrian roots for a mayor’s office so far.
