France's President Emmanuel Macron (2nd L) speaks with Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (C-R) next to France's Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (L) during a bilateral meeting at the Damascus International Airport in Damascus on July 6, 2026. (Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Macron arrives in Syria for first post-Assad visit by West European head of state

French president says he came to show commitment to Syrian people, seek a ‘Syria, united in its diversity,’ and at peace with its neighbors

by · The Times of Israel

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 in 2024.

“I have come to express France’s commitment to the Syrian people,” Macron posted to his official X feed. “For a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbors. Together, let us open a new chapter of stability and peace.”

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani welcomed Macron upon arrival.

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

He was accompanied on the trip by France’s Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.

President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been rebooting Syria’s international credentials and seeking to revive his struggling country after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) shakes hands with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa after a joint press conference following a meeting at the Elysée Palace in Paris, France, on May 7, 2025. (Stephanie Lecocq / POOL / AFP)

The visit underlines Syria’s geopolitical transformation under Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who has established close ties with Western and Middle Eastern powers that shunned Assad.

The last French president to visit was Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before Assad brutally crushed pro-democracy 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 on Monday as “a pivotal step in the process of restoring Syria’s international presence.”

It added that with the visit, “Syrian-French relations are entering a new phase based on mutual respect and a balanced partnership.”

Syria’s reconstruction is set to be one of the key themes of the trip, and Macron will be accompanied by business leaders, including the CEOs of TotalEnergies and French container shipping group CMA CGM, a French presidential official told reporters in a briefing ahead of the visit.

Syria’s President Ahmad al-Sharaa, left, receives European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center, and European Council President António Costa, right, upon their arrival at the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, January 9, 2026. (European Commission via AP)

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 ouster.

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

The French president’s visit comes during a period of relative calm in the Middle East after the monthlong war in Iran and Lebanon. He will travel next to Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit, where Sharaa is also expected to attend and hold a high-profile meeting with US President Donald Trump.

Macron hosted al-Sharaa in Paris in May 2025, and urged European and US leaders to lift longstanding sanctions on Damascus. Most of those sanctions have since been lifted.