Jet sale on mind, Macron visits Gulf

Nice, France: French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting the energy-rich Persian Gulf Friday, hoping to seal a major arms contract after this fall’s Australian submarine deal debacle and to strengthen France’s role in the region.

The two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia comes a month before France assumes the rotating European Union presidency — and ahead of the French 2022 presidential election where Macron is expected to seek a second term. Returning from the Gulf with a contract to sell French fighter jets to the Emiratis, a deal that Paris and Abu Dhabi have discussed for almost a decade, would boost France’s defense industry after the collapse of a $66 billion contract for Australia to buy 12 French submarines.

And the red carpet treatment Macron can expect from Gulf political heavyweights would present France as the EU powerhouse in the Gulf and Middle East since Britain’s exit from the bloc.

Macron’s keen interest in forging personal relationships with leaders like Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, and his counterpart in Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salman Al Saud, makes him a welcome guest. Both Gulf leaders value a degree of pragmatism when discussing democracy and human rights – issues on which their countries have been heavy criticized by rights groups and European lawmakers — while pursuing business opportunities