French President Emmanuel Macron was the first head of state of the European Union to directly speak with the new Syrian leader, Ahmad al-Scharaa, on Tuesday. According to his office, Macron “initiated the contact” and called al-Scharaa, who has been acting as the de facto leader of Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December and was recently appointed as “interim president” by Islamist groups.
Al-Scharaa had previously met with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who visited Damascus last month. Al-Scharaa had caused a stir during that visit by shaking hands with Barrot, but not with Baerbock.
The state-run Syrian news agency SANA reported on Wednesday that Macron congratulated al-Scharaa and emphasized his country’s commitment to lifting sanctions against Syria. The EU announced last week that it would lift some of the sanctions against Syria, which had been in place under Assad’s rule, to support the country in its post-conflict reconstruction after more than 13 years of conflict.
SANA also reported that Macron has invited al-Scharaa, the former Al-Qaida leader, to his first visit to Europe, to Paris, where he will attend an international conference on Syria on February 13.
Al-Scharaa traveled to Saudi Arabia on Sunday for his first foreign trip and met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Tuesday.
The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) movement, led by al-Scharaa, was previously linked to Al-Qaida and was designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Kingdom. Al-Scharaa had fought for Al-Qaida in Iraq and was once imprisoned in the notorious Abu Ghuraib prison.
More than two months ago, a rebel alliance led by the Sunni Islamist HTS overthrew Assad in a lightning-fast offensive. Islamist groups in Syria currently enjoy the support of Western states and the EU is already in the process of lifting its sanctions against Syria.