Emmanuel Macron welcomes MBS with a long handshake

LFrench President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed ben Salmane with a long handshake on Thursday July 28, invited for a working dinner at the Elysée Palace, despite protests from human rights defenders. Emmanuel Macron warmly greeted his host, for whom this is the first visit to Europe since the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi less than four years ago.

This meeting is a further sign of the “rehabilitation” of the de facto leader of the kingdom, less than two weeks after the visit of US President Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia, which consecrated the return of the crown prince, nicknamed MBS, on the international scene, in a context of war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices. In response to the anger of human rights defenders, the French presidency said Thursday that Emmanuel Macron would address the “question of human rights as he does each time with Mohammed bin Salman”. “He will approach (this question) in a general way, but he will take the opportunity to talk about individual cases”.

The Elysée said that this dinner was necessary, given the soaring energy prices, the food crisis in the Middle East and concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. “If we want to confront each other, to tackle the consequences of these crises on the one hand and to weigh in the region for the benefit of all, the only way is to speak with all the main actors”, indicated the presidency. .

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