Macron arrives in Syria on the first visit of a European head of state

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Syria today, Monday, in the first visit by a European Union head of state to Damascus since the armed opposition led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime in 2024.

This visit confirms the geopolitical transformation that Syria is witnessing during the era of Al-Sharaa, who established close relations with Western and Middle Eastern powers.

The French President is returning antiquities that Damascus had lent to his country a year before the outbreak of the conflict in 2011, according to what the Elysee Palace told reporters on Monday.

The French presidency said, “The president will return to Syria artifacts that were loaned to the Arab World Institute in 2010, and which could not, for obvious reasons, be returned to Syria.”
A source in the Syrian Ministry of Culture and Museums confirmed that the French President will bring with him “23 artifacts dating back to different historical eras.”