Syria to attend G7 summit

Syria is set to attend the Group of Seven summit in France next month as a guest country, with President Ahmed al-Sharaa expected to represent Damascus, according to Reuters and other outlets citing sources familiar with the matter. The summit is scheduled for June 15-17 in Évian-les-Bains, in southeastern France. If confirmed as planned, it would be Syria’s first participation in a G7 summit since the forum was founded in 1975. ### How was the invitation delivered? One source cited by Reuters said the invitation to al-Sharaa was hand-delivered to Syrian Finance Minister Yisr Barnieh during G7 financial talks in Paris earlier this week. That detail matters because it ties the leaders’ summit invitation to a broader French effort to widen participation around the G7 presidency this year. (usnews.com) Arab News, which carried the Reuters report, said three sources familiar with the matter described Syria as attending as a guest nation rather than as a member of the bloc. France, as this year’s host, controls the guest list for the summit. ### Why is Syria’s presence unusual? The Reuters report said this would mark Syria’s first participation in a summit of the group since 1975, the year the forum was founded. (internazionale.it) Syria has long been outside the G7’s diplomatic orbit, and its appearance at a leaders’ gathering would stand out even by the standards of guest invitations that host countries sometimes extend to non-member states. (arabnews.com) Élysée materials on the 2026 summit say France will host leaders in Évian from June 15 to 17, 23 years after the 2003 Evian G8 summit and seven years after France’s 2019 G7 summit in Biarritz. Swiss government guidance on summit preparations also says invited heads of state and government beyond the G7 and European Union will attend. ### What is Syria expected to talk about there? (usnews.com) A Syrian official cited in the Reuters report said Damascus would likely focus on Syria’s role as a “potential strategic hub for supply chains” after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. That description came from the source, not from France or the G7 itself. (elysee.fr) Other reporting around the Paris finance meetings pointed to Syria’s participation in a closed-door session with G7 finance ministers and central bank governors. That earlier appearance suggested Syria was already being folded into parts of France’s wider summit diplomacy before the leaders’ meeting in June. ### Does Syria’s invitation change the summit agenda? (internazionale.it) France’s official summit page says the Évian meeting will bring together the G7 leaders under President Emmanuel Macron’s chairmanship, but it does not publicly list a Syria-specific agenda on the page surfaced in search results. The preliminary briefing for this story said French hosts still intend to keep Ukraine central to discussions, even as the guest list broadens. (aol.com) What can be said firmly now is narrower: Syria is being brought in as a guest, not as part of the core seven, and the summit itself remains the annual meeting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. ### What happens next in Évian? June 15 is the next fixed date in the story. (elysee.fr) France is due to open the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains that day, with al-Sharaa expected to attend if the invitation proceeds as described by the sources cited by Reuters. The meeting runs through June 17 and will include G7 leaders, the European Union and other invited heads of state and government. (usnews.com) (consilium.europa.eu)