After Athens where he landed on Tuesday July 26, the Saudi crown prince must go to Paris, according to the kingdom’s press agency. This is MBS’s first visit to Europe since the journalist’s assassination Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman is touring Europe this week. He arrived in Greece on Tuesday July 26 for a two-day visit before a second stop in France, according to the press agency of the Wahhabi kingdom. The Elysée, for its part, does not confirm. This is MBS’s first visit to Europe since the Khashoggi affair, the journalist murdered in October 2018 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Stage 1: the resumption of dialogue with Turkey
This return to the international scene of Mohamed Ben Salmane really began in June when the crown prince went to Egypt and Jordan, and especially to Turkey where he had been received by President Erdogan. This meeting had put an end to the estrangement which followed the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in atrocious circumstances. The Saudi journalist, known for his critical positions towards Riyadh, had been dismembered and then dissolved in acid. The Turkish president at the time questioned the responsibility of the Saudi authorities in the disappearance of the journalist.
Since then, water has flowed under the bridges of the Bosphorus. The Turkish leader is facing an unprecedented crisis and must attract investors to restart his economy.
Stage 2: the war in Ukraine and the oil issue
Pointed out for three years, relegated to the rank of pariah on the international scene, MBS has become popular again, as Joe Biden’s trip to Jeddah recently proved and the famous “fist check” between the two men which earned well criticism of the American president, who had nevertheless declassified a damning report on the responsibility of the crown prince in the assassination of Jamal Khashogghi. This was without counting the war in Ukraine which put the Gulf monarchies back at the center of the oil game destabilized by Western sanctions against Moscow.
Step 3: a new meeting with Emmanuel Macron?
The Elysée has not yet confirmed to franceinfo the visit of the crown prince to France and is content to say that he has no information at this stage, that if there is to be a meeting, it will take place on his return. of Emmanuel Macron from his trip to Africa. The Head of State returns Thursday from Guinea Bissau. The two men could therefore meet on Friday. How will this meeting take place? Will there be a joint press conference? No one can tell at the moment.
We remember, however, that Emmanuel Macron was the first Western leader to visit Saudi Arabia last December. The French president had to do a balancing act by evoking the need to speak to the crown prince who represents the first country in golf, a key player in the region, while specifying that dialogue did not mean being complacent.