Macron, MBS see future in French-Saudi partnership
Saudi crown prince spends an action-packed week in Paris, including Global Financing Summit; Gulf eyes greater share of crypto market; is Netanyahu losing control?; why Jenin and Nablus remain hotbeds of Palestinian resistance.
PARIS — Although Paris traffic was in gridlock, French-Saudi relations went into a new, higher gear this week.
French President Emmanuel Macron said his country is prepared “to support Saudi Arabia in strengthening its defense capabilities” and that French companies are ready to back the kingdom’s “ambitious Vision 2030.”
Macron made the statement following a meeting last Friday in Paris with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), whose weeklong visit to the French capital coincided with the Paris Air Show and Macron’s two-day international Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, in which MBS and more than 50 other world leaders took part.
These events, as well as Paris Fashion Week and early summer tourism, brought Paris traffic to a near standstill.
