LONDON: French President Emmanuel Macron has become the first European head of state to visit Damascus since the fall of President Bashar Assad in late 2024, marking another pivotal step in Syria’s emergence from years of diplomatic isolation.
With Syria’s political transition still fragile, observers are asking what France hopes to gain. Samy Akil, a senior adviser at The Syria Report, said the visit reflects a long-term strategic calculation.
“Paris is trying to plan more strategically in the long term,” Akil told Arab News. “France has long seen itself as a leading power in the Mediterranean, especially in Lebanon and, to a lesser extent, Syria.”
In that context, Macron’s landmark visit may be “part of an effort by the French government to position itself as the key interlocutor between the EU and Syria — or at the very least to ensure that any future EU policy on Syria aligns with French priorities,” Akil said.
To achieve that, France appears to be backing Syria’s institutional and financial recovery, including, Akil said, “support for reconstruction, the restoration of banking services, and efforts to help Syrian businesses resume operations and revive the labor market.”
