The premises of the French embassy in Syria symbolically reopened

With a broad smile on his lips, Jean-François Guillaume, special envoy for Syria, leaves the premises of the French embassy in Damascus, amid the waste that has accumulated on the ground since March 6, 2012, the date of the closure of the Chancellery. « The French flag flies again over our embassy », he declares solemnly.

Accompanied by a delegation of three other diplomats, he went to the Syrian capital this Tuesday, December 17, to open the premises closed for twelve years and to hoist the tricolor flag.

Since 2012, the building which houses the embassy has been abandoned. The entrance blocked by a gate has been transformed into a trash can. The door hinges are rusty over time. To open them, the French law enforcement who gravitate around Jean-François Guillaume first search among “ the box of keys » which they brought, before quickly giving up.

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