French President Emmanuel Macron landed in Damascus on Monday 6 July 2026, becoming the first European Union head of state to visit Syria since rebels led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The two-day trip, confirmed by the Elysée, comes approximately one year after al-Sharaa visited France. Macron was greeted at Damascus International Airport by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani.
Macron said on X that he was in Syria 'to affirm France's commitment to the Syrian people and to a sovereign Syria united in its diversity and at peace with its neighbours.' Syria's state news agency SANA said Macron would visit with a business delegation to discuss regional security as well as business and investment opportunities. A French presidential official told reporters ahead of the visit that Syrian reconstruction would be one of the key themes.
Macron was accompanied by a French business delegation that includes the chief executives of TotalEnergies (TTE) and French container shipping group CMA CGM, according to a French presidential official. TotalEnergies is the only publicly listed company named in the delegation; CMA CGM is privately held. The presence of TTE's chief executive places the energy major in the first tier of French corporate engagement with post-Assad Syria as the country seeks to rebuild infrastructure shattered by more than 13 years of civil war.
Macron's visit marks a further step in Syria's diplomatic rehabilitation under al-Sharaa. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani was the first foreign head of state to visit Syria after Assad's fall, travelling to Damascus in January 2025. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited in January 2026, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met al-Sharaa during a trip to Syria in April 2026. The last French head of state to visit Syria was Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before Assad crushed pro-democracy protests in 2011, sparking a conflict that killed more than half a million people. In May 2025, Macron hosted al-Sharaa in Paris and pledged to push the European Union and the United States to lift sanctions on Syria, most of which have since been removed.
The diplomatic backdrop remains complex. A bombing at a Damascus café killed 10 people in the days before the announcement of Macron's visit, highlighting the security challenges facing Syria's new authorities as they seek to reunify the country. Earlier in 2026, Damascus took control of swathes of north and northeast Syria previously under Kurdish control, and the Kurds agreed a deal to integrate their civil and military institutions into the Syrian state. Following his time in Damascus, Macron is scheduled to travel to Ankara, Turkey, for a NATO summit, where Syrian President al-Sharaa is also expected to attend and hold a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, Arab News, Associated Press, AFP, The New Arab