What issues will Macron discuss during his visit to Syria?

Syria’s state-run al-Ikhbariya TV reported that Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani received the French president at Damascus airport.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview with the French channel BFMTV that Macron’s visit to Syria represents an important development in relations between the two countries.

He added that agreements would be signed during Macron’s visit to Syria, as rebuilding the state is based on multiple frameworks, such as reconstruction and empowering state institutions.

He explained that France would work in infrastructure and the financial sector, in addition to many other sectors in which it can operate.

France has been a friend of the Syrian people since the revolution, which was suppressed by the former regime, according to al-Sharaa. He noted that French President Emmanuel Macron had been in contact with Syria’s leadership since the beginning of the liberation, and that France had played a constructive role in lifting sanctions on Syria.

The Syrian president pointed out that his country had overcome many obstacles and had established excellent relations with several countries in recent months, noting France’s role in Syria’s opening to the outside world.

According to a statement issued by the French presidency, Macron will renew during his visit France’s support for Syria’s unity and its push toward an “inclusive and pluralistic” political transition that guarantees representation, rights, and security for all components of Syrian society.

The visit also focuses on supporting the building of a “stable and sovereign Syria” and opening a new path for cooperation with Damascus in the political, economic, and security fields.

Agence France-Presse reported that the Syrian president will hold “informal” talks with his French counterpart on Monday evening, ahead of a round of official negotiations on Tuesday, followed by a joint press conference.

It added that several senior executives from major French companies are accompanying the French president during his visit to Damascus.

The delegation will include Rodolphe Saadé, chairman and CEO of CMA CGM, and Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, according to the agency.

AFP reported that the economic delegation’s discussions with the Syrian side will cover economic and investment issues, focusing on the transport and energy sectors.

Security, economy, and reconstruction on Macron’s agenda

The French president’s talks in Syria include counterterrorism, particularly the “Islamic State” group, in addition to regional security cooperation, amid Syria’s continued participation in the international coalition against the group, according to the Elysée statement.

Economically, France seeks to support reconstruction through a delegation of French companies, while reactivating financing and investment encouragement tools, at a time when French data indicate that trade exchange between the two countries remains limited but is recovering.

The visit’s program includes meetings with Syrian officials, political talks, an economic forum on reconstruction, the signing of cooperation agreements, and a joint press conference at the end of the visit.

First visit in 17 years

The French president’s visit is the first by a Western head of state to Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, and the first by a French president since the last visit by former President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009.

French diplomatic sources told Enab Baladi that Macron’s visit will take place on July 6 and 7.

The Elysée Palace announced that Macron will call during the visit for “a free and pluralistic Syria that respects all its components and plays a role in easing tensions in the Middle East.”

The Elysée warned that “the new Syria will not be a partner for France unless it fully takes its pluralism into account.”

It stressed that Paris is “strict” in its demand in this regard, adding that “there is no room for one exclusionary authority to replace another exclusionary authority.”

Macron said his visit to Damascus “affirms France’s commitment to standing alongside the Syrian people for a sovereign Syria, united in its pluralism, and at peace with its neighbors.”

In a post on X, he called for opening a new page of stability and peace.

Significance of the visit

French diplomatic sources told Enab Baladi that Macron’s visit carries major symbolic significance and reflects the important role France is playing alongside the new Syria, especially in its active opposition to the repression practiced by the Assad regime since the 2011 revolution.

The sources added that France aims to make Syria a center of regional stability by playing a mediating role with the Kurds, facilitating dialogue with Lebanon, and contributing to counterterrorism, in order to help its economic recovery and contribute to reconciliation among Syrian parties after years of civil war and tensions.

At the regional level, France also aims to help reposition Syria as a trade and energy hub between Europe and Asia.

The sources explained that Macron will renew France’s commitment to Syria’s unity and to an inclusive and pluralistic political transition that guarantees rights, security, and representation for all components of Syrian society.

The visit, according to the sources, will also represent a concrete French commitment to the reconstruction of Syria as a stable, sovereign country living in peace with its neighbors.

It will open a new page in the French-Syrian partnership in the economic and security fields, and accompany efforts to support regional stability and diversify supply routes between Europe and the Middle East.

Macron’s visit, according to the sources, will be an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between France and Syria in security fields by combating terrorism and consolidating stability in the country and the region, in economic fields with the aim of contributing to economic recovery and realizing the country’s potential, and in technical fields to support the restructuring and strengthening of new Syrian institutions.

The areas of cooperation will also include cultural and heritage aspects, given the richness of Syria’s heritage and in order to revive the long tradition of bilateral cooperation in this field, in addition to the legal field and the fight against impunity, in continuation of France’s commitment in this regard.

Returning antiquities to Syria

French President Emmanuel Macron intends to bring antiquities with him during his visit to Syria, after Damascus loaned them to France one year before the start of the Syrian revolution in 2011.

AFP quoted the French presidency as saying that Macron “will return to Syria artifacts that had been loaned to the Arab World Institute in 2010 and could not, for obvious reasons, be returned to Syria.”

A source at the Syrian Ministry of Culture and museums confirmed to AFP that the French president will bring with him “23 artifacts dating back to different historical eras.”

The two countries were preparing in 2010 for an exhibition to be held the following spring at the Arab World Institute in the French capital. Syrian state media reported at the time that the pieces “belong to different historical periods, beginning with the tenth millennium B.C., through the Bronze Age, then the classical periods, and up to the period of Arab Islamic civilization.”

Improved Syrian-French relations

Syrian-French relations have seen a noticeable improvement since the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, after a period of estrangement against the backdrop of the Syrian revolution.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Paris in May 2025, the first foreign visit to a Western country.

France is considered a historic supporter of the Syrian opposition during the years of the revolution, and was the first country in Europe to pledge cooperation with the new Syria.

It sent a diplomatic delegation to Damascus as of December 17, 2024, and the French minister for Europe and foreign affairs visited Syria, accompanied by her German counterpart, on January 3, 2025.

France also redeployed its diplomatic presence in Syria as of May 2025, with the aim of strengthening dialogue with the new Syrian authorities and facilitating the resumption of bilateral cooperation activities.

It supported lifting the European economic sanctions imposed on the country, which took effect in May 2025. France worked to amend the European Union’s policy regarding sanctions imposed on Syria in order to facilitate the return of investments to Syria.

In May 2025, the Syrian government signed a 30-year contract with CMA CGM to develop and operate the port of Latakia (western Syria), worth 230 million euros.

May 2026 saw a memorandum of understanding with the American company ConocoPhillips, France’s TotalEnergies, and QatarEnergy to explore for oil and gas in Syrian territorial waters.

[Source: Enab Baladi English]