Macron will, in connection with the meeting, "reiterate France's support for the building of a new Syria, a free, stable, sovereign Syria that respects the components of Syrian society", according to the statement.
The meeting takes place after Macron invited the Syrian leader in February, an invitation he repeated in March, that he forms a government representing "all parts of civil society".
Interim President al-Sharaa led the Islamist movement Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the uprising against the Damascus regime. He was then known under his war name Abu Mohammad al-Julani. HTS was formed from the feared al-Nusra front with links to the terrorist network al-Qaida – which fought in the Syrian civil war.
The new government has repeatedly promised to protect all religious minorities and include the entire Syrian society in the formation of a new Syria.
Sectarian violence has, however, cast a significant shadow over the stated ambitions. In March, 1,700 people were killed, a majority of them belonging to the minority group Alawites, in violent clashes along the coast.
Last week, bloody clashes broke out anew, this time near the capital Damascus, when over 100 people were killed. The majority were Druze, who got caught up in fighting against armed groups with links to the authorities.
