{"id":128924,"date":"2026-07-07T10:20:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=128924"},"modified":"2026-07-07T10:20:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T05:20:22","slug":"macron-in-damascus-to-back-free-pluralist-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/","title":{"rendered":"Macron in Damascus to back \u2018free, pluralist Syria\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DAMASCUS(National Times)-  French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday for the first visit by a Western European head of state since Syria\u2019s new authorities took power in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Macron, who will depart on Tuesday, will advocate for \u201ca free, pluralist Syria that respects each of its components\u201d and plays a role in moderating Middle East tensions, the French presidency told journalists ahead of the visit. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani welcomed Macron upon arrival, according to a journalist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Ahmed al-Sharaa has been rebooting Syria\u2019s international credentials and seeking to revive his struggling country after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The last French president to visit the country was Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before Assad brutally crushed pro-democracy protests in 2011, sparking a conflict that killed more than half a million people and devastated Syria\u2019s infrastructure and industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A deadly&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2012623\">bombing<\/a>&nbsp;at a Damascus cafe last week was the latest security challenge for the new Islamist authorities who are trying to reunify the country after more than 13 years of civil war. Syrian state news agency SANA described the visit Monday as \u201ca pivotal step in the process of restoring Syria\u2019s international presence\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe hope this visit will represent a new start for Syria,\u201d said Faisal Azouz, 76, a retired teacher, noting that it could \u201copen new prospects for economic, cultural and political relations\u201d between the countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2018Safe and stable\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dressmaker Diala Akkashe, 33, saw the visit as a vote of confidence. \u201cIf Syria wasn\u2019t safe and stable, no president or foreign official would take the risk of coming,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In May 2025, Macron hosted Sharaa on his first official visit to a European country, a move that preceded the Syrian leader\u2019s trip to Washington last year to meet US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DAMASCUS(National Times)- French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday for the first visit by a Western European head of state since Syria\u2019s new authorities took power in 2024. Macron, who will depart on Tuesday, will advocate for \u201ca free, pluralist Syria that respects each of its components\u201d and plays a role in moderating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Macron in Damascus to back \u2018free, pluralist Syria\u2019 - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Macron in Damascus to back \u2018free, pluralist Syria\u2019 - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DAMASCUS(National Times)- French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday for the first visit by a Western European head of state since Syria\u2019s new authorities took power in 2024. Macron, who will depart on Tuesday, will advocate for \u201ca free, pluralist Syria that respects each of its components\u201d and plays a role in moderating [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T05:20:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-6.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/\",\"name\":\"Macron in Damascus to back \u2018free, pluralist Syria\u2019 - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-6.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T05:20:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-6.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-6.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Macron in Damascus to back \u2018free, pluralist Syria\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Macron in Damascus to back \u2018free, pluralist Syria\u2019 - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128924\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Macron in Damascus to back \u2018free, pluralist Syria\u2019 - Nation","og_description":"DAMASCUS(National Times)- French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Damascus on Monday for the first visit by a Western European head of state since Syria\u2019s new authorities took power in 2024. 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