Reception of Mohammed bin Salman causes criticism

French President Emmanuel Macron returned early from his trip to Africa from Guinea-Bissau to receive the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Élysée Palace on Thursday. The meeting was scheduled at very short notice and was only officially confirmed when the Crown Prince was already on the first stop of his European tour in Athens. The visit is controversial. After the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, the crown prince was considered persona non grata in the West for years.

However, the isolation was never complete, and in recent years Western leaders have sought rapprochement again. The energy crisis since the Russian invasion of Ukraine seems to have finally rehabilitated King Salman’s son as a conversation partner. Twelve days before the reception in Paris, American President Joe Biden had overcome his reservations and paid his respects to the Crown Prince in Riyadh. The Kingdom is and will remain an indispensable partner as an oil supplier.

That should also have been the main motive for Macron to roll out the red carpet for the controversial crown prince. In front of the Élysée Palace, he greeted his guest on Thursday for the cameras with a long handshake. This had a symbolic message: Mohammed bin Salman, despite his alleged responsibility for the murder of Khashoggi and the devastating war in Yemen, is socially acceptable for Paris and a business partner like any other.

Macron hopes for more oil from Saudi Arabia

This is not entirely unexpected. Because for Macron, the meeting with the heir to the throne, known as MbS for short, was not a premiere: he had already met him in Jidda in December. Macron makes no secret of the fact that he is urging Saudi Arabia to increase oil production. At the G-7 meeting in Bavaria at the end of June, Macron interrupted Biden in the middle of a conversation to update him on the results of his efforts in Riyadh.

The French head of state is not only relying on Saudi Arabia. On July 18, he had already received the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, whose country is also an important oil producer, with all the pomp and ceremony in the Trianon. A week later, Egyptian President Abdelfatah al-Sisi visited. By welcoming the two authoritarian rulers, Macron ignored the protests of human rights activists.

The Emirates and Egypt are important customers of the French defense industry and have ordered Rafale jets from Dassault, among others. The Élysée Palace did not say whether orders for French companies were also discussed at the meeting with MbS. The economic expert François Touazi told the newspaper “Le Monde” but: “With the increased oil prices, the coffers of the kingdom are full. Our companies must not miss the train!»

Economic relations have priority

There is no doubt that other countries are also looking to attract investments from Saudi Arabia – not least Greece, whose Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis MbS gave a warm welcome earlier in the week. For Macron, the visit was not officially about promoting the economy, but about strengthening France’s role in global politics and diplomatic influence. From the point of view of the left-wing opposition and human rights organizations, however, this in no way justifies “rehabilitating” the crown prince.

The former presidential candidate of the Greens (EELV), Yannick Jadot, criticized the visit in particularly sharp words: “What was on the menu of Emmanuel Macron and MbS’s dinner? Journalist Kashoggi’s dismembered body? The climate chaos? Peace and Human Rights? No, exactly the opposite of that: oil and weapons!” EELV chief Julien Bayou expressed shock that a foreign dictator was being received with such honours.

The French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, on the other hand, assured in advancethat “France’s principles would not be swept under the table” during the visit. The Elysée then said that Macron also raised human rights issues in Saudi Arabia at the dinner. There is enough to talk about: Even if MbS has initiated some important reforms in the social sphere, he proceeds with undiminished severity against members of the opposition.

Charges against the Crown Prince in the Khashoggi murder case

Before the reception of the Crown Prince in the Élysée two human rights organizations filed a complaint on Thursday against MbS for «assisting in torture and kidnapping». The American organization Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), which was founded on an initiative by Khashoggi, and Trial International from Switzerland called on the French judiciary to bring charges against the crown prince under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

They argued that MbS could not claim immunity since he was not a head of state. There is also a need for action, since the trial in Turkey on the murder case had been discontinued and the trial against the perpetrators in Saudi Arabia was only a farce. The ad had no immediate consequences for the meeting in the Élysée. If a court declares itself responsible for the investigation and prosecution, it could become more complicated for MbS to visit Macron in Paris in the future.