Russia’s “special operation” in Ukraine has definitely changed many things. four years later the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Mohammed Bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, for a time ostracized from the international community, is therefore expected on Thursday July 28 for a working dinner with Emmanuel Macron.
>> Mohammed Ben Salmane on a visit to France: the return to favor of the Saudi crown prince on the international scene, in three stages
Arousing the anger of human rights defenders, this meeting is a further sign of the “rehabilitation” of the Saudi crown prince, less than two weeks after the visit of US President Joe Biden to Saudi Arabia – and this famous “check” of the hand, which definitively consecrated the return of “MBS” on the international scene.
Thanks to the war in Ukraine and the surge in oil prices, MBS is once again popular. After having ostracized him, Westerners are also seeking to restore close relations with the young crown prince.
France has a “triple interest“explained by Agnès Levallois, senior researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research. First of all, “France considers that it must play a role in this Middle East, which is in a complicated period all the same”, details the specialist. And the question of oil is a key point: “There is obviously a particular component related to energy issues, because Saudi Arabia has the means to bring down oil prices. And there is another particular file between France and Saudi Arabia, which concerns Lebanon. The economic and financial crisis in Lebanon is still just as dramatic. One can imagine that this file will also be mentioned by France. It’s one of his diplomatic priorities.”says Agnès Levallois.
On franceinfo, the journalist Georges Malbrunot, specialist in the monarchy, specifies that the Kingdom is more than ever “unavoidable and is even more so since the Ukrainian crisis.“
Mohammad Bin Salman in France
“Saudi Arabia is essential and is even more so with the Ukrainian crisis. We need Saudi oil”, explains journalist Georges Malbrunot, specialist in the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/x2LbF47uOw
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) July 28, 2022
Will Emmanuel Macron succeed in convincing Mohammed Bin Salman to open the floodgates to lower the price of black gold? Joe Biden, who had called MBS a pariah, broke his teeth there ten days ago. The less clear-cut position of the French president, who was the first Western leader to go to the proyal hall of Jeddah, just before the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict, could be an asset.
Still, the image of France could take a hit: according to Abdullah Alaoudh, director for the Gulf region of the organization Democracy for the Arab World Now founded by Jamal Khashoggi, this visit to France is “a shame”. On franceinfo, he does not mince his words: “We believe MBS is seeking to whitewash his crimes. He supported war leaders in Libya and elsewhere, and arrested so many activists, peace advocates and comedians in Saudi Arabia.”
“He is a person who cannot be trusted as a partner.”
Abdullah Aloudhat franceinfo
“Just look at Biden’s visit to Riyadh: MBS didn’t do him any favours, didn’t give him anything he wanted. So he should learn from that: he’s an unstable dictator and walking his hand in the hand with him is a disgrace and a disgrace”denounces the human rights activist.
An opinion shared by Julien Bayou, national secretary Europe-Ecology-The-Greens, who qualifies it however. “I’m shocked that we can welcome a foreign dictator with honors. Emmanuel Macron’s France is completely abandoning the idea of defending human rights anywhere in the world. I have the feeling that with Saudi Arabia, despite the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, the situation of LGBT and women in this country, Emmanuel Macron is finally forced to walk out on the red carpet because we need his oil . Finally, the dependence on fossil fuels means that we are selling off our diplomacy“, he accuses.