French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit Syria in the near future, according to announcements by Syrian state media on Sunday.
The trip will distinguish Macron as the first Western head of state to step onto Syrian soil since the historic overthrow of longtime President Bashar Al-Assad in late 2024.
The scheduled diplomatic mission underscores a significant evolution in relations between Paris and Damascus. In May 2025, Macron hosted Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa - the former Islamist insurgent leader who assumed state authority following the collapse of the previous government - for a formal summit at the Élysée Palace.
During those talks, the French leader committed to advocating within the European Union and the United States for the rollback of severe economic sanctions against Syria. In the months since, the vast majority of those international trade penalties have successfully been dismantled.
The French presidential palace declined to issue an official comment regarding Macron's travel itinerary on Sunday.
While Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, citing communications from al-Sharaa’s executive office, withheld the precise calendar dates for the state visit, the timing aligns with a broader regional diplomatic window. Macron is already finalized to join global leaders in nearby Ankara, Turkey, for the high-profile NATO summit on Tuesday and Wednesday.
According to SANA, the French president will not be traveling alone; he is slated to arrive alongside a robust delegation of international financiers and corporate executives representing major French enterprises.