Macron hosts dinner for Saudi prince
EMMANUEL MACRON, the president of France, hosted a private dinner for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia at the Louvre in his latest use of his country’s cultural “crown jewels” to wow foreign leaders.
The surprise tête-à-tête at the world’s most famous museum on Sunday night was not on the official presidential agenda. It was held shortly after
the prince arrived in Paris on the latest leg of an international charm offensive taking the Saudi royal to the US, UK, Egypt and now France.
However, the visit brought a warning from Bénédicte Jeannerod, head of Human Rights Watch France. “Saudi Arabia is still in pole position among countries who use the death penalty the most,” she told France Info. “European partners, and in this case France, should not shut their eyes to these grave abuses on the pretext that they wish to support a supposedly reformist friend,”
Prince Mohammed’s official visit to France will conclude tomorrow with another dinner with Mr Macron, this time at the Elysée palace, and the prince was expected to sign a “strategic partnership” with France.
Le Monde said that the French were not expecting to seal any multibillion euro deals with the kingdom.