The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has assessed this Wednesday as a relevant milestone the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), announced the day before, understanding it as a "decisive step" towards the "peaceful integration" of these Kurdish-Arab militias into the Syrian state presided over by Ahmed al Shara.
In a message disseminated on his social networks, the Gallic leader has emphasized his support for the ongoing process: "I congratulate Syria on the decisive step taken yesterday in the process of peaceful integration of the SDF into the Syrian state. I applaud the commitment of President Al Shara and the spirit of responsibility of (the commander-in-chief of the SDF) Mazloum Abdi and the SDF in this regard."
Macron has also recalled the "active" role that, according to his words, France plays in accompanying the Syrian "transition" opened after the overthrow of President Bashar al Assad at the end of 2024, as a consequence of a joint offensive by jihadist groups and rebel factions. In this context, he has assured that "France (...) will be attentive to its implementation."
The French leader has reiterated that "France will continue to support the Syrian transition with the only guidelines being the unity and sovereignty of Syria, respecting all its components and the state's monopoly on weapons. In Syria, as in any other place, this is how the path towards lasting peace and stability can be built."
The commander-in-chief of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi, was the one who announced this Tuesday in Damascus the formal disappearance of the Kurdish-Arab forces, referring to the "historic moment" the country is going through. "We close an important chapter in the history of Syria and begin to write a new one, whose motto is peace, stability, and the reconstruction of the homeland," he stated after meeting with the Syrian president.
The integration pact, sponsored by the United States, was sealed on January 29 by Ahmed al Shara and Mazloum Abdi, after several days of intense fighting resulting from a new offensive by security forces against the Kurdish units deployed in the north and northeast of the country.
This file was among the most delicate in the Syrian political agenda, due to the discrepancies over how to articulate the incorporation of the SDF, in a context marked by Washington's pressures in favor of Damascus and its insistence that the central government maintain control over all the territory and discard any formula of autonomy for the Kurdish political structures.