French President Macron to visit Emirates to mourn death of pro-Western leader

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that he will travel to the United Arab Emirates to mourn the death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan and to show his support for the leading family with which France maintains lucrative business and military ties.

Macron will travel to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, his government said in a statement, to pay tribute to the caliph, who died on Friday, and to “express his support for the brother of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and his successors.” the rest of the family, as well as the entire people of the Emirates “,

Khalifa, president of the UAE since 2004, was a pro-Western modernist who had aligned the Gulf Arab state more closely with the West, but rarely appeared in public since suffering a stroke in 2014. He was buried and funeral prayers were held on Friday.

France sees the UAE as a strategic partner in the region, and business ties, including the delivery of military equipment and energy infrastructure, have been strengthened under Macron’s first presidency.

During a high-profile visit to Dubai in November, Macron showed good relations with Crown Prince Mohammed, the country’s de facto leader, and business delegations from the two countries signed a number of important agreements.

The UAE has ordered 80 of Dassault Aviation’s Rafale fighter jets and 12 military helicopters through an armaments contract worth 17 billion euros ($ 19.20 billion), which the French say will provide thousands of local jobs. Read the whole story.

French energy giants TotalEnergies TTEF.PA and Engie also won multibillion-euro deals.

Paris has a permanent military base in the capital of the Emirates.

Source: Capital

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