PARIS: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s first visit to Paris in 2018 had exposure as an objective. At the time, he as well as Emmanuel Macron were making their first steps as young leaders.

Much has happened in four years, and the world, as we have known it, has changed. The first objective of the crown prince in Paris is to highlight the changes and other reforms undergone by the Kingdom. 

As pointed out by Cedomir Nestorovic, professor of geopolitics at ESSEC, the important thing to assess is whether “the massive reforms and the structural change of the Saudi society driven by the crown prince have been sufficiently noticed abroad.”

The crown prince can boast today a real resume in terms of reforms.

He will be able to answer critics and face them with the positive dynamics to which Saudi Arabia has committed and underline the benefits of Arab modernity. When asked about the subject, several French legislators consider this visit to be strategically significant both for the crown prince and Macron.

Energy, according to Nestorovic, is of course the other focal point. During this period of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, gas and oil have become rare and expensive, and Europe apprehends the cold of winter.

By distancing itself from the conflict, Saudi Arabia managed, at first, to play the role of arbitrator, but the recent spectacular rapprochement between Vladimir Putin and his Turkish and Iranian counterparts reminded the Gulf monarchies that the Russian card could be a double-edged sword.

Also to be considered is the issue of Western leadership. By traveling to France, the crown prince seems to return the favor to Macron, who was the first Western head of state to visit him.

It also appears that relations have greatly improved and that France is increasingly present in Saudi Arabia.

If Macron understands the change of course initiated by the Kingdom for several years now, he will probably be in a better position than the US president to discuss energy issues.

Indeed, during the meeting with Joe Biden, Saudi Arabia pledged to support the West’s energy supply. But, for the time being, the real measures have not yet been taken. Similarly, the price of oil and gas has not really been addressed.

Macron and the crown prince have their own cards to play, by showing that the relationship between the West and Saudi Arabia no longer necessarily passes solely through the United States.

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This visit, therefore, has a strategic dimension since it deals with Europe’s energy security. But it also has, as is so often the case, a political dimension. Will the two young leaders be able to understand each other better?

Will we be able to say that the new French approach in Saudi Arabia is more realistic and keeps pace with the reforms and the transformation of the Kingdom?

Given the Saudi delegation accompanying the crown prince, it seems that the “economic development” aspect will be at the heart of the talks.

Should contacts between economic leaders be as flourishing as expected, this will play a strong role in helping Saudi Arabia gain stature among nations as a major player.

The French Revolution of 1789 saw France transform from a monarchy to a republic, which came under the control of Napoleon Bonaparte 10 years later. After he became emperor of the First French Empire from 1804-1814, his armies conquered large swaths of continental Europe.

Another monarchy emerged from the wake of Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815, and Napoleon’s nephew created the Second Empire in 1852, becoming the last monarch to rule over France. He was ousted and the monarchy was replaced by the Third French Republic in 1870.

Throughout the 19th century and early 20th century, France maintained a large colonial empire across West Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

France sided with the Allied Powers during the Second World War, but was split in two during the conflict, with most of the country controlled by a collaborationist, pro-German government.

The country slowly recovered after the end of the war, but long wars in its colonies in Indochina (now Vietnam) and Algeria saw it ousted from these regions, and by the 1960s, most of France’s former colonies had achieved independence.

France has been a full member of the UN Security Council and NATO since the end of the Second World War, and played a vital role in the establishment of the EU.

France has a large Muslim and Arab population owing to its former colonies in north Africa, and many of these populations suffer from social alienation and high unemployment rates.

The country has been the site of unrest and protests against the enforcement of strict secular policies and controversial bills, some of which have attempted to ban the wearing of headscarves or traditional Muslim face coverings in public.

TASHKENT: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow would soon propose a time for a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which Blinken has said he wants to discuss an exchange of prisoners held in Russian and US jails. Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had made a “substantial offer” to obtain the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan, both detained in Russia. A source said that Washington was willing to exchange convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout, jailed in the United States, as part of such a deal. Blinken and Biden have not spoken since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. Families of the US detainees have been increasing pressure on President Joe Biden, most recently in the case of two-time Olympic gold medallist Griner, who was arrested on drugs charges at a Moscow airport on Feb. 17. Lavrov told a news conference that talks on prisoner exchanges had been taking place since a summit in Geneva last year where presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden had agreed to nominate officials to look into the issue. He said his ministry was not involved in that, but “nevertheless, I will listen to what he (Blinken) has to say.” Speaking during a trip to Uzbekistan, Lavrov said he would talk to Blinken when he returned to his office. “It’s clear this is unlikely to work out today. But in the coming days we will offer our American colleagues a convenient date,” he said. 

KYIV: Dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war appear to have been killed in an missile strike on Friday, with Moscow and Kyiv accusing each other of carrying out the attack. The incident overshadowed UN-backed efforts to restart grain shipments from Ukraine and ease a looming global hunger crisis stemming from the war, now in its sixth month. Russia’s defense ministry said 40 prisoners were killed and 75 wounded in the attack on the prison in the frontline town of Olenivka, in a part of Donetsk province held by separatists. It accused Kyiv of targeting it with US-made HIMARS rockets, Russian news agencies reported. Ukraine’s armed forces denied carrying out strike and blamed it on Russian forces, saying Russian artillery had targeted the prison. “In this way, the Russian occupiers pursued their criminal goals — to accuse Ukraine of committing ‘war crimes’, as well as to hide the torture of prisoners and executions,” the general staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said. The Russian defense ministry said the prison housed Ukrainian prisoners of war and that eight prison staff were also wounded. Russian-backed separatist leader Denis Pushilin was quoted as saying there were no foreigners among 193 people held there. Video released by a Russian war correspondent showed Russian-backed military personnel sifting through the burned-out remains of what he said was the prison. The smashed roof of the building was hanging down and the charred remains of bodies could be seen. Separately Ukraine said at least five people had been killed and seven wounded in a Russian missile strike on the southeastern city of Mykolaiv, a river port just off the Black Sea, as Russia fired across frontlines in eastern and southern Ukraine. A missile struck near a public transport stop, regional governor Vitaly Kim said on Telegram. Russia, which denies targeting civilians, did not immediately comment on the situation and Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

MOSCOW: Eight people died in a blaze in a 15-story building in Moscow overnight, after a fire alarm malfunctioned, officials said Friday. The fire erupted in the building in a southeastern district, an agency investigating criminal acts said, adding that four people were hospitalized. Emergency services said the blaze broke out on the ground floor of the building, adding that the flames were doused soon after midnight and that more than 200 people were evacuated. A senior emergency official told TASS news agency that a fire alarm in a hostel malfunctioned and that the people inside were trapped as all the windows had metal bars. A criminal negligence case has been opened. Russian buildings are regularly struck by fires and gas leaks blamed on poor maintenance, infrastructure or negligence.

MANILA: The Philippines has detected its first case of monkeypox in a person with a history of overseas travel, officials said Friday. The announcement comes within a week of the World Health Organization declaring the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency. Philippine officials did not identify the gender of the person, only saying they were 31 years old and tested positive on Thursday after an RT-PCR test. “The case had prior travel to countries with documented monkeypox cases,” said Beverly Ho, an acting undersecretary for the Department of Health. “Ten close contacts were recorded, of which three are from the same household. All have been advised to quarantine and are being monitored by the department.” A surge in monkeypox infections has been reported since May outside the West and Central African countries where the disease has long been endemic. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that more than 18,000 cases have now been reported to the organization from 78 countries, with 70 percent of them in Europe and 25 percent in the Americas. Five deaths have been reported in the outbreak since May, he said. The Philippines sought to head off potential panic, saying monkeypox was not like Covid-19. “This is not like Covid that can be spread by air very easily and could possibly be fatal,” said Trixie Cruz-Angeles, press secretary for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “This is not particularly fatal.” Ho said the Philippines was working with the United States to secure monkeypox vaccines.

MEXICO CITY: Authorities in Mexico said Thursday that at least 94 migrants had to bash their way out of a suffocating freight trailer abandoned on a highway in the steamy Gulf coast state of Veracruz. Carlos Enrique Escalante, the head of the state migrant attention office, said migrants had to break holes in the freight container to get out, some apparently through the roof. Some were injured when they leapt from the roof of the trailer, but their injuries did not include any broken bones and were not considered life-threatening. Escalante said local residents near the town of Acayucan heard the noise, and helped open the freight container. A much larger number of migrants were believed to have been aboard and fled after escaping. But the 94 migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were turned over to immigration authorities. The discovery of the trailer Wednesday recalled the tragedy in San Antonio, Texas on June 27, when 53 migrants died because they had been left in a sweltering freight truck. In the southern Mexico state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, yet another group of migrants continued demanding temporary visas they would permit them to travel across Mexico. They were still in the town of Huixtla on Thursday after leaving Tapachula earlier this week, saying they can’t wait months for slow immigration paperwork in Tapachula.