Macron hosts Syrian Transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa amid continued sectarian strife and national negotiations

PARIS — Paris hosted a landmark meeting on 7 May 2025, as President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Syria Transitional President Ahmad al-Sharaa for his first European visit. Beyond the high-profile handshake at the Élysée, France has deepened its diplomatic engagement with all Syrian stakeholders, most notably the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Paris has positioned itself as a bridge between Damascus and the SDF, underscoring inclusivity while navigating the fraught aftermath of civil war.

Diplomatic Outreach Meets Fragile Reality

Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, al-Sharaa has sought Western recognition, even as his former role as the head of the now dissolved jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, at one point an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, draws criticism at home and abroad. Macron stressed that France would support “a free, united, stable Syria” but insisted al-Sharaa “must do everything to assure the protection of all Syrians without exception,” particularly amid recent sectarian massacres in Alawite and Druze regions.

Paris has also leveraged its long-standing relationship with the SDF to foster dialogue. On 11 March, France hailed an agreement signed between al-Shaara and SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdi, calling it “a positive step toward a peaceful negotiated solution,” ensuring Kurdish inclusion in Syria’s transition.

Earlier, Macron had publicly urged full SDF integration into Syria’s transitional framework during a February phone call with al-Sharaa, reaffirming Paris’s “steadfast commitment” to the participation of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the Region of North and East Syria (DAARNES) in governance. France was an early supporter of the autonomous northeast, allowing the opening of a representation office for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in Paris back in May 2016.

France’s efforts extend to security cooperation. Recent Rudaw reporting noted that Paris encouraged the exchange of prisoners and the presence of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) of North and East Syria forces in Holeb’s (Aleppo) Kurdish neighborhoods, while pressing Damascus to honor these commitments. Moreover, French troops have been discussed as potential guarantors of northern Syria’s border security, a plan French President Macron affirmed could deter Turkish incursions, following US plans to significantly reduce its presence in Syria.

Criticism of Visit During Ongoing Sectarian Violence

Even as al-Sharaa sought to project a message of national unity in Paris, Syria remains riven by sectarian clashes that have claimed thousands of lives since March. In early March, government forces and allied Sunni militias swept through the Alawite heartland around Jableh and Baniyas, leaving at least 1,700 mostly civilian Alawites dead in what rights groups have characterized as collective punishments and revenge killings.

Just weeks later, Druze communities on Damascus’s southern fringes were engulfed by new violence after a fabricated audio clip allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad circulated online. Clashes in Jaramana and Ashrafiyat Sahnaya left over 100 people dead and prompted Syria’s Druze spiritual leader, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, to denounce the killings as a “genocidal campaign” against his community.

International bodies have condemned both the sectarian massacres and the timing of Macron’s invitation. The United Nations’ Special Envoy for Syria called the violence “unacceptable” and urged all parties to halt reprisals targeting minorities. Human rights organizations have likewise criticized the new Syrian authorities for failing to secure minority protections even after promising an independent investigative commission, which to date has yielded no arrests or accountability for the atrocities.

Inside France, the decision to host a leader formerly of an Al-Qaeda affiliate drew sharp rebukes from opposition figures. Marine Le Pen called the meeting “provocative and irresponsible,” arguing that France should not confer legitimacy on a man linked to jihadist violence. Laurent Wauquiez, head of The Republicans in parliament, denounced the visit as “a serious error,” warning that it risked alienating France’s traditional allies and undermining its moral authority on human rights.

Critics also point out that just days before al-Sharaa’s arrival, Druze villagers near Damascus resisted government demands to disarm, insisting they would only lay down arms once the state guaranteed their security — a condition the interim authorities have so far failed to meet. Israel’s subsequent airstrikes, ostensibly to “protect the Druze minority”, further underscore the dangerous spillover of sectarian strife into regional geopolitics.

Amid these warnings, Macron maintained that engagement was necessary to influence al-Sharaa’s conduct and to press for minority protections as a precondition for deeper sanctions relief. Yet the Paris visit has laid bare the stark gap between diplomatic outreach and the grim reality on the ground, where sectarian grievances and cycles of revenge continue to threaten any fragile post-Assad settlement.