INTERVIEW – By receiving the Syrian leader on Wednesday for his first visit to Europe on Wednesday, France shows “naivety”, thinking that it will “draw the dividends from the situation”, analyzes Fabrice Balanche.
Fabrice Balanche is a lecturer in geography at Lyon-2 University. Specialist in Syria and the Middle East, he is notably the author of Lessons from the Syrian crisis (Odile Jacob, 2024).
Le Figaro.- For his first visit to Europe Ahmed al-Charaa will be received Wednesday in Paris by Emmanuel Macron. What are the challenges of this meeting for him and the new Syrian government?
Fabrice Balanche.- Al-Charaa first comes to seek international legitimacy. For the moment, it has been received by Arab leaders: the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, the Turkish president … The Emir of Qatar even came to Damascus. There, it is the first time that he has visited the West. The United States is more complicated, because its head was priced there not so long ago. So he goes to Europe, it’s better than nothing! Then he wants to lift the sanctions, which Europeans have already started to do. And then he comes to get money: then …
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