French President Emmanuel Macron is set to visit Syria, the Syrian presidency announced Sunday, without specifying a date. The visit would make him the first Western head of state to travel to Damascus since President Ahmad al-Sharaa came to power in late 2024.
Ahmad al-Sharaa © Mena Today
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to visit Syria, the Syrian presidency announced Sunday, without specifying a date. The visit would make him the first Western head of state to travel to Damascus since President Ahmad al-Sharaa came to power in late 2024.
It would also be the first visit by a French president to Syria since Nicolas Sarkozy's trips in 2008-2009, before the Arab Spring crackdown by Bashar al-Assad's regime in 2011 severed relations between Paris and Damascus. The Emir of Qatar and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have already made the trip since Assad's fall.
The timing is not accidental. With his presidency winding down and his domestic popularity at historic lows, Macron has been compensating with a frenetic international agenda. A visit to a post-Assad Syria makes for a compelling headline and a legacy moment, however thin the substance behind it.
In practical terms, not much. The most tangible benefit would be commercial: French companies could gain a foothold in Syria's reconstruction market.
But here too, Macron arrives late. Turkey, the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have already established a significant presence, signing investment agreements and positioning their companies for the reconstruction bonanza ahead.
France will be competing for scraps at a table where the Gulf states and Ankara have already claimed the best seats.
A historic visit, certainly. A game-changer for France's strategic position in Syria or the broader Middle East? That is a much harder case to make.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on his first visit to Syria, called Saturday on the international community to help the country as it moves through a transition following years of civil war and the establishment of new authorities.
Pakistan is exploring a path towards a resumption of stalled U.S.-Iran talks over ending their nearly five-month-old war, three Pakistani sources said, following a push initiated by China.
Residents began entering the southern Lebanese town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Friday, some inspecting damaged homes and searching for belongings after Israeli troops withdrew and the Lebanese army deployed under a U.S.-brokered agreement.
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