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.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday that Saudi Arabia may have military needs due to the ongoing attacks by Yemen's Houthis and that Turkey was ready to help under a trilateral defence pact that also includes Pakistan.
The European Union said Saturday it regretted Washington's decision to deny visas, for the second year running, to Palestinian officials seeking to attend the UN General Assembly, urging a rethink.
The head of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon said on Saturday it was critical to ensure other UN agencies and Lebanese troops could assume the tasks carried out by the force before it begins withdrawing at the end of this year.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
