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French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Syria on Monday for the first visit by a Western European head of state since Syria’s new authorities took power.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said Macron would visit with a business delegation to discuss regional security as well as business and investment opportunities.
The French president was greeted at Damascus airport by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani.
“I have come to express France’s commitment to the Syrian people. For a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbors,” Macron said in a post on X. “Together, let us open a new chapter of stability and peace.”
Macron is meeting Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa before both leaders are set to head for the NATO summit in Ankara.
France supports all those who can “contribute to build a new Syria” in line with the aspirations expressed since the 2011 Arab Spring, Macron’s office said, referring to a period of widespread uprisings across the Middle East that called for political change and reform.
In an interview broadcast by French channel BFMTV on Monday, al-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.
The French president’s meetings are scheduled throughout Tuesday, beginning with members of Syrian civil society, his office said, though no details were disclosed. Macron will then meet with al-Sharaa, before holding economic talks and signing memorandums of understanding. The two leaders will hold a joint news conference afterward.
Macron hosted al-Sharaa in Paris in May 2025, where he urged European and U.S. leaders to lift longstanding sanctions on Damascus. Most of those sanctions had since been lifted.
Additional sources • AP, AFP