Macron asks Bin Salmán to work to “diversify energy imports” by Europe

Meeting in Paris takes place amid rising energy prices amid Russian invasion of Ukraine

July 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of France, Emmanuel Macron, has transferred to the Saudi crown prince, Mohamed bin Salmán, the need to maintain coordination with Riyadh with the aim of “diversifying the import of energy” by European states due to the increase in prices of the sector in full Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Macron, who received Bin Salman for a working dinner in Paris on Thursday, expressed to the Saudi crown prince his “deep concern” about the Russian military offensive, “its disastrous impact on civilian populations and its repercussions on food security.” .

“The President of the Republic and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia have stressed the need to find a solution to the conflict and intensify cooperation to mitigate the effects in Europe, the Middle East and the world,” the Elysee said in a statement published this Friday.

In this sense, Macron presented Bin Salmán with the Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission (FARM) initiative, launched by France together with the European Union (EU), the G7 and the African Union (AU), to guarantee ” global food security”.

The Elysee has also detailed that both have reiterated their “shared commitment to security and stability in the Middle East” and to “continue joint efforts to reduce tensions in a lasting way”, while stressing their desire to ” deepen” bilateral relations and “maintain coordination to overcome regional and global challenges, especially the fight against climate change and its consequences”.

Regarding the regional situation, both have addressed the talks regarding the possible reactivation of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, the political and economic crisis in Lebanon, the ceasefire in northern Syria and the war in Yemen. Likewise, Macron has shown his willingness to work for a “just and lasting peace” and the resumption of dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis.

On the other hand, already on a bilateral level, the French president has shown the availability of companies from the European country to “accompany” the program of diversification of the Saudi economy and has addressed “the issue of Human Rights in Saudi Arabia”, without give more details in this regard and in the face of criticism against him for receiving Bin Salmán, identified as allegedly responsible for the murder in 2018 of the journalist Yamal Jashogi inside the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

Bin Salmán sent a telegram of gratitude to Macron early this Friday after his official visit to Paris. “I am pleased to express to Your Excellency my deepest gratitude and appreciation for the warm welcome and hospitality that has been extended to me and the delegation accompanying me,” he said, as reported by the Saudi state news agency. , SPA.

“The discussions that I have had with Your Excellency confirm our common desire to strengthen the strategic alliance in all fields between our friendly countries and work to maintain coordination and consultations on matters of common interest (…), aimed at achieving the interests of the two friendly countries and peoples and the strengthening of security and stability in the region,” he argued.

Due to the current energy crisis due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, the increase in oil production is in the spotlight and, in fact, was one of the topics of the recent meeting between the US president, Joe Biden, and Bin Salmán, also highly criticized because a declassified CIA report points to him as being responsible for Khashogi’s murder.

In fact, the trip of the Saudi crown prince to France has caused discomfort in international human rights organizations. Thus, the organization Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), together with the Open Social Justice Initiative –OSJI, for its acronym in English– and the NGO TRIAL International, filed a complaint in France against Bin Salmán.

For his part, the secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, Christophe Deloire, has asked France in a statement to intervene with Bin Salmán for the release of the 27 journalists who are currently detained in the country. “Almost four years after the murder of journalist Jamal Jashogi, Bin Salman’s reintegration into international relations cannot be carried out in defiance of truth and justice,” he concluded.