Syria expecting Macron in first post-Assad visit by Western head of state
Syria has announced that it was expecting a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, the first by a Western European head of state since Syria’s new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa took power in 2024.
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,” without specifying a date for the trip.
The French presidency did not immediately comment.
The last French president to visit was Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad brutally crushed pro-democracy protests in 2011, sparking a conflict that killed more than half a million people and devastated Syria.
