The UAE and France… a strategic partnership that defines the Stability Sheet
Emmanuel Macron, on Monday 18 July, welcomes the President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Bin Zayed to the Elysée Palace. A state visit to “confirm the strong ties” between Paris and Abu Dhabi.
Economy and culture are on the menu. Emmanuel Macron welcomes the new president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, dubbed MBZ, to the Elysée on Monday, whose state visit “will confirm the strong ties” between France and the rich oil country of the Gulf, announced Thursday the Elysée.
The meeting between the two leaders will be followed by a state dinner in the prestigious Grand Trianon, in the park of the Château de Versailles.
“The two heads of state will have to continue to deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries, particularly in the areas of security and defense, and energy and technologies of the future,” explained Elysée.
Their aim will also be to “strengthen an already dense bilateral relationship”, in particular in investment or culture, to discuss ways of “responding to the global energy crisis” and “joint efforts” for “regional stability and security”, the Presidency added.
A loaded program
The official news agency of the UAE said that MBZ will meet several French officials during its state visit.
This will come after US President Joe Biden’s first trip to the Middle East, who is to meet on Saturday in Saudi Arabia with the crown prince and strongman of the kingdom Mohammed bin Salman, known as “MBS”, with the aim of getting the kingdom, the world’s largest exporter of crude, to open the floodgates to calm the soaring oil prices.
Emmanuel Macron has met with MBZ on several occasions since 2017, most recently during his short visit to Abu Dhabi to pay tribute to Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyane, the Emirati president who died on May 13.
The next day, MBZ, already considered the de facto ruler of the Emirates, was elected president, succeeding his half-brother, who had been weakened since 2014 by a stroke.
Macron previously visited the Emirates in December 2021, where he visited the Dubai World Expo and oversaw the signing of several contracts, including one to supply 80 Rafale fighter jets, a record order for the fighter aircraft that entered service in 2004.
On that occasion, the licensing agreement for the Louvre Abu Dhabi, inaugurated in 2017 by the French president, was extended for another ten years, until 2047.
