French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday, becoming.
The first European Union head of state to visit Syria since President Ahmed Al-Sharaa led the rebel offensive that toppled Bashar Assad in 2024.
The visit highlights Syria’s changing diplomatic landscape under Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda commander who has sought to rebuild ties with Western and regional powers after years of international isolation under Assad.
“I am here to affirm France’s commitment to the Syrian people. For a sovereign Syria, united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbours. Together, let us open a new chapter of stability and peace,” Macron wrote on X shortly after landing in the Syrian capital.
He was received at Damascus International Airport by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani.
Reconstruction is expected to dominate Macron’s visit. He is accompanied by a delegation of French business leaders, including the chief executives of TotalEnergies and shipping giant CMA CGM, signalling France’s interest in participating in Syria’s post-war rebuilding efforts.
According to the Elysee Palace, Macron will also reiterate France’s support for a sovereign, inclusive and pluralistic Syria while meeting representatives from different communities across the country.
Sharaa, who visited France last year in his first trip to a European nation after assuming power, praised Macron’s role in supporting Syria’s political transition.
“President Macron sought to engage with us from the beginning and followed every stage of the transition,” Sharaa told French broadcaster BFMTV. He also credited France with helping secure the lifting of Western sanctions imposed during Assad’s rule.
France had been among the strongest advocates within Europe for easing sanctions after Syria’s political transition, arguing that economic recovery was essential for the country’s stability.
Macron returns Syrian antiquities
As part of the visit, Macron is returning 23 Syrian antiquities that had been loaned to France’s Arab World Institute in 2010 but could not be returned after Syria descended into civil war.
The artefacts, which will be handed over to the National Museum of Damascus, span periods from prehistory to the Abbasid era and include objects from the Mesopotamian, Canaanite, Nabataean, Palmyrene, Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad civilisations, the French presidency said.
Syria plunged into civil war in 2011 after Bashar Assad’s government violently suppressed pro-democracy protests, prompting France to sever diplomatic ties with Damascus. Macron’s visit marks a significant shift in relations as European countries deepen engagement with Syria’s new leadership following Assad’s ouster.
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