From Middle East to e-sports: Macron hosts Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman

French president Emmanuel Macron is on Sunday hosting Saudi Arabia's crown prince and de facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman, for a two-day visit whose agenda ranges from e-sports to the war in the Middle East.

Several agreements covering health, transport and energy are to be signed on Monday, the second day of the visit, according to an official at the French presidency, underscoring the strength of relations between Paris and Riyadh. The leaders are expected to address the "major economic and strategic issues that underpin the Franco-Saudi partnership", the Élysée said, notably in energy, aerospace and defence.

According to the Élysée, the visit "reflects the vitality of the dialogue between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France, and will help to strengthen the strategic partnership that binds our two countries. To that end, the President of the Republic and the crown prince will for the first time hold a meeting of the Franco-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council".

The visit will, however, get under way on a different note on Sunday evening: Emmanuel Macron will receive Saudi Arabia's strongman - known as MBS from his initials - at the closing ceremony of the e-sports World Cup being held in Paris.

Still according to the presidency, "Organised for the first time outside Saudi Arabia since it was created, the staging of this global championship in Paris testifies to France's renewed appeal as a host for major international sporting events" and "also illustrates the shared ambition of France and Saudi Arabia to make sport and culture drivers of their rapprochement".

The event, which brings together the elite of e-sports - from video games to chess - and enjoys MBS's active backing, is being held outside Saudi Arabia for the first time.

The Élysée official declined to say whether the agreements might cover the large "Dragon Ball" theme-park project, backed by a Saudi fund and under consideration in Val-d'Oise, in the Paris region.

Saudi Arabia is also preparing to host a series of major global events, including the World Expo in 2030 and, above all, the 2034 football World Cup.

Will human rights be on the agenda?

Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the United States and historically at odds with Iran, is also closely following developments within the Islamic Republic in the wake of the US-Israeli conflict.

On Monday afternoon, MBS and Emmanuel Macron will chair the first meeting of the Franco-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council.

The two leaders "will exchange views on the main regional issues, in a context that calls for close coordination between France and its Gulf partners in favour of stability and peace in the Near and Middle East", to quote once again the Élysée's wording.

It remains to be seen whether human rights will feature prominently on the agenda, some eight years after the murder and dismemberment of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

A United Nations investigation described Jamal Khashoggi's death as an "extrajudicial execution for which Saudi Arabia is responsible". US intelligence services concluded that MBS had "approved" the operation that led to Khashoggi's killing. Riyadh denies these accusations, blaming them on agents who acted on their own initiative.

In December 2021, Emmanuel Macron became one of the first Western leaders to meet MBS in Saudi Arabia after Khashoggi's killing. In July 2022 it was bin Salman who came to Paris - and that visit sparked fierce criticism on the left, Le Parisien (source in French) reported at the time. "On the dinner menu between Emmanuel Macron and 'MBS', the dismembered body of journalist [Jamal] Khashoggi ? (…) No ! Oil and arms !", the Green politician Yannick Jadot protested at the time. Julien Bayou, then national secretary of Europe Écologie-Les Verts, said in turn that "France is not a doormat for dictators in search of rehabilitation on the international stage".

Since then, the Saudi crown prince has made several trips to France: Saudi Arabia is too important economically and regionally for France to allow the relationship to deteriorate for long.

Ultimately, the oil factor - Riyadh is the world's leading crude exporter - especially against the backdrop of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Europe's determination to wean itself off Kremlin fuels, has only served to seal this return to favour.