Bilateral relations, regional issues and energy to top agenda as Saudi crown prince meets Macron

Bilateral relations, regional issues and energy to top agenda as Saudi crown prince meets Macron

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron will welcome Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to a one-on-one luncheon meeting at the Elysee Palace on Friday.

This visit is expected to be longer and the talks more multifaceted than during the crown prince’s previous trip to Paris in July last year. It will provide the two leaders with an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations and the latest developments in numerous issues of common interest.

Additionally, the crown Prince’s visit will be punctuated by several other events, most notably an International Bureau of Expositions meeting, and a summit organized by France to discuss a new Global Financing Pact.

It also follows the recent announcement of the resumption of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, an event that caught France’s attention. The Elysee responded to it by saying “there is in this normalization of diplomatic relations with Iran a potential for easing tensions in the region that must be verified.’

In the view of the French, “the issue is not so much the normalization of relations with Iran but the demonstration of what Iran and Saudi Arabia together can make of this normalization on certain subjects where the two countries have so far been opposed.”

Therefore, the