Zürcher Nachrichten - Macron says Syria must not be destabilised after bombs wound 18

The attacks cast a shadow over the first trip of a European Union head of state since Bashar al-Assad was toppled in late 2024, as President Ahmed al-Sharaa tries to rebuild the country's image after more than a decade of conflict.

The two leaders vowed to step up economic and diplomatic ties with new ambassadors to be installed in each country.

In a joint press conference with his Syrian counterpart, Macron said we must "not let ourselves be destabilised" by such attacks, before which he had already left for the presidential palace in the heart of the Syrian capital, and reiterated Paris' support for the country.

Sharaa saluted Macron's "courage" for carrying on with his visit despite the bombings.

An AFP team saw Macron arrive for a meeting with Sharaa, while other journalists heard at least one blast echo through Damascus before seeing a plume of smoke rising near the hotel, where security forces closed a road and ambulances rushed to the scene.

Syria's interior ministry said one bomb had been placed inside a car parked on the side of a road, while the second was planted in a garbage container.

It said they exploded "while preparations were underway" to dismantle them.

Syria state media said the blasts wounded 18 people, including four police officers.

An AFP photographer near Syria's tourism ministry, opposite the hotel, saw windows damaged by one of the explosions, amid a heavy security presence.

- Economic forum -

France's Elysee Palace said Macron would continue his trip until his expected departure on Tuesday evening, when he travels to Ankara for a NATO summit and holds talks there the following day with Turkey's president.

The explosions are the second in the Syrian capital since Thursday, when 10 people were killed in a bombing in a Damascus cafe.

The French president had postponed announcing the date of his visit until his plane landed on Monday, for security reasons.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said that Macron's visit marked a "pivotal point" in the two countries' relations, vowing to continue to "confront terrorism in all its forms".

Sharaa also announced "our agreement to begin the process of exchanging resident ambassadors between Damascus and Paris as soon as possible, signalling the return of diplomatic relations to their normal state".

The blasts came moments before Syrian state television announced Macron's arrival at the palace.

The visit included an economic forum during which the two sides signed 15 bilateral agreements in several sectors, including civil aviation, health, banking, water infrastructure and roads, although French investors remain cautious about the situation.

"After the Strait of Hormuz crisis, the world realises the value of a safe and stable corridor," Sharaa said at the forum.

"Here the importance is highlighted of the geography of Syria, which today has regained its vital role as an indispensable link in the global corridors market."

Macron was accompanied by several economic players including Rodolphe Saade, chief executive of maritime transport giant CMA CGM, and TotalEnergies head Patrick Pouyanne.

Before the Damascus blasts, Pouyanne said that "the security situation still doesn't allow us to operate, but I think it is a positive initiative to come here, to Damascus".

- Civil society -

Before arriving at the presidential palace, Macron held a meeting Tuesday morning with civil society representatives at the Four Seasons Hotel.

The French leader had said on X that "nothing can smother the aspiration of Syrian women and men to live in a fully sovereign, safe, pluralistic and united Syria".

While Sharaa has repeatedly vowed to protect minorities, sectarian violence in the Alawite-majority coast in March 2025 and clashes in Druze majority Sweida in July that year killed thousands of people.

The last French president to visit Syria 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 the country's infrastructure and industry.

In May 2025, Macron hosted Sharaa in France on his first official visit to a European country, a move that preceded the Syrian leader's trip to Washington last year to meet US President Donald Trump.

N.Fischer--NZN