Syria expecting Macron in first post-Assad visit by Western head of state

DAMASCUS

Syria has announced that it was expecting a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, the first by a Western European head of state since Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa took power in 2024.

State news agency SANA, citing the Syrian presidency’s media office, said “Macron is expected to visit Syria to discuss ways of strengthening bilateral relations and issues of common interest,” without specifying a date for the trip.

The French presidency did not immediately comment.

The last French president to visit was Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad brutally crushed pro-democracy protests in 2011, sparking a conflict that killed more than half a million people and devastated Syria.

SANA said Macron would be accompanied by a delegation “including investors and representatives of French companies” and discussions would also address “regional and international” developments.

Early last year, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani became the first foreign head of state to visit Damascus after Assad’s December 2024 toppling.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen visited in January and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky followed in April.

But Macron is the first head of an EU state and prominent Western leader to head to the Syrian capital, after hosting Sharaa in Paris last year despite controversy over receiving the former leader of Syria’s Al-Qaida affiliate turned statesman.

That visit preceded Sharaa’s Washington trip last year to meet U.S. President Donald Trump.

Sharaa is seeking to rebuild his country after the easing of Assad-era Western sanctions.

Syria specialist Arthur Quesnay told AFP that Macron was a driving force behind the new Syrian leadership’s normalization of ties with Western countries.