In an effort to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Germany kicked out four employees of the Syrian embassy in Berlin, believing that reducing relations with the Assad government to a minimum may impact the violent civil war. 

This is obviously not the first time Syrian diplomats have been expeled from a foreign country. A more notable expulsion occured in May 2012, during which the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and the Netherlands took action against Syrian diplomats.