PARIS (Reuters) – Syria’s opposition coalition is to appoint an envoy to France, French President Francois Hollande said after meeting the head of the Syrian National Coalition on Saturday.

A French diplomatic source said the official would act as a representative of the coalition, becoming ambassador once a provisional government is established and recognized internationally.

“There will be a Syrian ambassador in France who will be appointed by the president of the coalition,” Hollande said.

Hollande invited coalition head Mouaz Alkhatib for talks in Paris after France became the first European power to recognize the group as the sole representative of the Syrian people.

France is one of the harshest critics of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose military crackdown on an uprising against his rule has killed 38,000 people according to activists and risks sucking in neighboring countries.