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

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday for the first visit by a Western European head of state since the 2024 toppling of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, an AFP journalist said.

Macron, who will depart on Tuesday, will advocate for "a free, pluralist Syria that respects each of its components" and plays a role in moderating Middle East tensions, the French presidency told journalists ahead of his arrival.

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".

It said he would be accompanied by a delegation "including investors and representatives of French companies" as part of efforts to strengthen economic cooperation.

Discussions would also address "regional and international" developments, it added.

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa hailed France's "constructive role" in the transition since Assad's fall.

"Macron has sought to engage with us in Syria and followed every step and stage of the transition," Sharaa said in an interview with French channel BFMTV aired on Monday evening. He added that France also "helped Syria in lifting the sanctions imposed on it" under Assad.

Read moreIn post-Assad Syria, displaced people await reconstruction

The last French president to visit was Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before Assad's government brutally crushed pro-democracy protests in 2011, sparking a prolonged conflict that killed more than half a million people and devastated Syria's infrastructure and industry.

Early last year, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani became the first foreign head of state to visit Damascus after the new authorities led by Sharaa took power.

France's Macron in first post-Assad visit to Damascus : why the Syria stopover ?

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European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen visited in January this year, 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.

The announcement came after a bombing on Thursday at a Damascus cafe killed 10 people, the latest challenge to Syria's new authorities as they seek to reunify the country after more than 13 years of civil war.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)