Macron visits Syria in post-Assad era
Damascus, SYRIA—French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday for the first visit by a Western European head of state since Syria’s new authorities took power.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been rebooting Syria’s international credentials and seeking to revive his struggling country after toppling longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December 2024.
“I have come to reaffirm France’s commitment to the Syrian people. To a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbors,” Macron, who will leave on Tuesday, announced on X.
Macron and Sharaa visited Damascus’ famous Umayyad Mosque, Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists reported, after a working dinner and ahead of official meetings on Tuesday.
The last French president to visit the country was Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before Assad brutally crushed prodemocracy protests in 2011, sparking a conflict that killed more than half a million people and devastated Syria’s infrastructure and industry.
A deadly bombing at a Damascus cafe last week was the latest security challenge for the new Islamist authorities who are trying to reunify the country after more than 13 years of civil war.
Syrian state news agency SANA described the visit as “a pivotal step in the process of restoring Syria’s international presence.”
“We hope this visit will represent a new start for Syria,” said Faisal Azouz, 76, a retired teacher.
‘Safe and stable’
In an interview broadcast by French channel BFMTV on Monday, Sharaa hailed France’s “constructive role” in the post-Assad transition.
“Macron has sought to engage with us in Syria and followed every step and stage of the transition,” Sharaa said, adding that his French counterpart had helped in the lifting of international sanctions on Damascus.
Ordinary Syrians also welcomed the visit. Dressmaker Diala Akkashe, 33, saw it as a vote of confidence.
“If Syria wasn’t safe and stable, no president or foreign official would take the risk of coming,” she said.
In May 2025, Macron hosted Sharaa on his first official visit to a European country, a move that preceded the Syrian leader’s trip to Washington last year to meet US President Donald Trump.
Macron is accompanied by several key economic players including Rodolphe Saade, chief executive of maritime transport giant CMA CGM, and TotalEnergies head Patrick Pouyanne.
Discussions are expected to address Syria’s reconstruction and investments, with French businesses still wary of returning to the country.
The French president is eager for Sharaa to maintain his pledge to protect minorities, after sectarian bloodshed in Syria’s Alawite and Druze heartlands last year.
