BBC News, Arabic Go to content Main Watch Listen Main Sections News Economy Health and Sciences Culture and Arts FIFA World Cup 2026 Investigations News Economy Health and Sciences Culture and Arts FIFA World Cup 2026 Investigations From Supporting Assad to Partnership with Al-Shar'aa: How Syrian-French Relations Changed Over Two Eras? Image source, Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron made an official visit to Damascus on Tuesday to discuss ways to enhance bilateral relations, in a move that reflects ongoing political rapprochement between the two countries since the political change in Syria in late 2024. The visit included signing bilateral agreements in various fields and announcing the upcoming exchange of ambassadors.
Historically, relations between the two countries have gone through phases of development and momentum, intertwined with fluctuations. However, one of the most notable moments in this relationship was the presence of French President Jacques Chirac as the only Western leader at the funeral of the late President Hafez al-Assad in 2000.
Marc Pierin, a visiting researcher at the Carnegie Europe Center for International Peace, says, "I remember the official funeral of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in June 2000, when I was the EU ambassador in Damascus. Of the 15 member states of the European Council at the time, only Jacques Chirac and Romano Prodi, who was then the President of the European Commission, attended the funeral."
Pierin, who was the EU ambassador to Syria, explains that Chirac's attendance at the elder Assad's funeral was to "encourage the new president, Bashar al-Assad, to take decisive steps towards economic and political reforms."
Chirac also awarded Bashar al-Assad the "Legion of Honor" in 2001.
However, relations between the two countries deteriorated during Jacques Chirac's presidency in 2005, following the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was a personal friend of Chirac.
At that time, accusations were directed at the Assad regime for involvement in Hariri's assassination, leading Chirac to cut high-level communications with Syrian officials.
Not only that, but at the time, France, in coordination with the United States, issued a joint statement calling for an international investigation into Hariri's murder and a full withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, after being deployed there for 29 years.
Image source, HAITHAM MUSSAWI/AFP via Getty Images
With the arrival of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to power in France, Sarkozy adopted a policy of openness towards Syria.
He hosted Bashar al-Assad in Damascus in July 2008, with the aim of encouraging regional peace talks between Syria and Israel.
He then visited Damascus in September of the same year, where he received a grand official reception before dining with Assad at the People's Palace in Damascus.
In 2011, diplomatic relations between the two countries experienced a new deterioration after attacks on the French and U.S. embassies in Damascus, following visits by the U.S. and French ambassadors to opposition strongholds in the city of Hama in central Syria.
At that time, Paris strongly condemned what it called an attack on its embassy in Damascus, describing it as a flagrant violation of international law.
In 2012, during the presidency of François Hollande, the violent situation in Syria led Hollande to announce the closure of the French embassy in Damascus on March 2.
Image source, Mouneb Taim/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
In 2018, Syria returned to France the "French Legion of Honor", which Chirac had awarded to Bashar al-Assad, days after the French President Emmanuel Macron's office announced his intention to withdraw the medal as a "disciplinary measure" against Assad's regime, after accusing the Syrian president of carrying out chemical attacks on Syrian civilians during the war that has ravaged the country.
At that time, the French president stated that his country had evidence that the Syrian army had carried out a chemical attack on Douma.
He also threatened that, at that time, French President Emmanuel Macron would launch strikes inside Syria if there was "compelling evidence" of the Syrian government using chemical weapons against Syrian civilians.
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