While a political storm blows over Michel Barnier in France, under the threat of a motion of censure, Emmanuel Macron will devote the start of the week to diplomacy. The tenant of the Élysée begins a three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia this Monday.
He is expected around 7 p.m. in Riyadh for a first face-to-face meeting followed by a dinner with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, de facto ruler of the kingdom. The objective is to intensify ties with this powerful actor in the Middle East and to “work together” for regional stabilization.
The page of the Khashoggi assassination turned
This is the president's third trip to the kingdom since 2017, a “very close relationship” to which the country's strong man, a time outcast after the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, responded with three official visits. In France.
The two leaders will “enact an enhancement of the bilateral relationship to the level of a strategic partnership”, announced the Elysée, recalling that the last state visit of a French president to Saudi Arabia dates back to Jacques Chirac in 2006 They will firstly see how to “work together” on the conflicts shaking the region. With Lebanon at the “heart of the discussions”, after a fragile truce that came into force on Wednesday between Israel and Hezbollah, a movement supported by Iran.
Emmanuel Macron, strong from his role in the ceasefire, hopes for Saudi support for the Lebanese army, which is redeploying to the border with Israel but lacks resources, and for the resolution of the political crisis which is shaking Lebanon for more than two years.
Towards a return of Riyadh's influence in Lebanon
The Gulf monarchy, long influential in Lebanon, has disengaged in recent years in the face of the growing weight of Hezbollah. But the latter emerges very weakened from the conflict with Israel and Riyadh could therefore decide to “once again finance acquisitions for the benefit of the Lebanese Armed Forces, or even aid to the Lebanese economy”, suggests an expert on the matter.
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, is engaged in discussions with Washington for the normalization of its relations with Israel and the granting of American security guarantees. But in mid-September, the Saudi crown prince affirmed that his country would not recognize Israel before the “creation of a Palestinian state”.
Our file on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
This visit will also have an important economic component on Tuesday as the kingdom, the world's leading producer of crude oil, is committed to accelerated diversification to face post-oil potential. The Head of State will be accompanied by around fifty bosses of large French groups (Total, EDF, Veolia, etc.) but also of start-ups in artificial intelligence and quantum physics (Pasqal, Alan, Mistral, etc.). Discussions are also underway for the acquisition of Rafale fighter jets by Riyadh.
