ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Syrian presidency on Sunday announced that a high-level delegation led by French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit Damascus, without specifying a date, which would make Macron the first Western leader to visit since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. 

A source from the Syrian Presidency told the state-run SANA news agency that Macron, along with an accompanying delegation, is expected to undertake an official visit to Syria, without specifying the date.

The French delegation will include several investors and representatives of French companies, as the two sides seek to develop economic ties, the source said, adding that the talks between the two sides are also expected to cover issues of mutual interest. 

The visit would mark the first by a French president to Damascus since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2009, before longtime Syrian ruler Assad crushed pro-democracy protests in 2011.

Earlier in May, Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa was received by Macron in Paris in the latter’s inaugural European visit since ascending to power in December, offering a seminal moment for Damascus to capture Western goodwill and engage in diplomatic outreach in the pursuit of legitimacy for his administration.

Sharaa and his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group sparked concerns in the international community upon seizing power from deposed Syrian leader Assad in an unprecedented two-week offensive in December over his previous involvement in the militant group Al-Qaeda and his activities during the war in Iraq.

Despite HTS’s Islamist roots, Sharaa has repeatedly promised that his administration will endeavor to protect Syria’s plethora of ethnic and religious minority groups.

Concerns were raised in late April after a bout of sectarian violence afflicted Syria, with security forces-affiliated personnel attacking members of the country’s Druze minority group.

Earlier in June, Syrian Democratic Forces chief Mazloum Abdi visited Europe, including France, to urge European officials to pressure Damascus to grant Kurdish rights by implementing a January integration agreement, a well-informed source from Rojava (northeast Syria) told The New Region.

On January 29, the SDF reached an agreement with Damascus for a phased integration process of the Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian state following weeks of clashes. However, the agreement has yet to be finalized.

The offensive, aimed at advancing interim Sharaa’s vision of a centralized Syria, came despite repeated calls from marginalized minorities for a federal system.