In his first visit to Europe since the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Mohammed Bin Salman was welcomed Thursday, July 28, with a long handshake by Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysée Palace, where he was invited for dinner.

The two agreed to collaborate on "intensifying their cooperation to ease the effects (of the war) in Europe, the Middle East, and the world," Macron's office said Friday, after talks in Paris that marked the full diplomatic rehabilitation of the Saudi leader.

"The President of the Republic underscored the importance of close coordination with Saudi Arabia on diversifying energy supplies to European states and introduced the FARM [Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission] initiative," the statement read on Friday.

France is not the first country to seek negotiations with the Saudi regime. Greece had recently signed an array of negotiations with Saudi entrepreneurs in a bid to satisfy its energy needs in the plight of the EU blockade on Russian oil. 

As he left the palace, bin Salman expressed his "deepest gratitude and appreciation for the warm reception and hospitality" in a statement posted online by the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

He later went to stay overnight at his chateau Louis XIV in Louveciennes, dubbed the "world's most expensive home" at the time of purchase, a property that was built by Jamal Khashoggi's cousin Emad.

Read more: MBS in Greece then to France as Western energy crisis deepens

Outrage among human rights groups 

Outraged human rights groups were quick to comment on the meeting due to MBS' suspected role in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Senior left-wing MP Alexis Corbiere told BFM television on Friday that "he's shaking the hand for a long time of a man whose hands are covered in blood," calling MBS "the chief butcher of the slaughter" in Yemen. 

For Macron's allies, it is rather a matter of priority for ensuring the country's basic needs. The question of human rights is raised loudly, before disappearing under the weight of "realpolitik", economic interests, and arms contracts. 

But questions are raised with regards to Saudi Arabia's capacity to fully satisfy France and the EU's energy needs. Analysts say the OPEC meeting which is scheduled for August 3 will be decisive to know if member countries, including Saudi Arabia, will continue to assess market conditions and do what is necessary.

"There are partners, countries that do not all share the same democratic values as France," French Public Services Minister Stanislas Guerini, a close ally of the President told Europe 1 radio.

"I believe it would be a mistake to not speak, to not try to make things happen," he added. "French values, the voice of France, human rights, were carried last night, as always, by the president." 

Read more: Macron hosting MBS; duplicity or diplomacy?

MBS' rehabilitation

Macron's decision to host the controversial royal sparked fierce criticism at home from human rights groups and left-wing opponents. Throughout the day, reviews of this visit poured in from all sides. 

While #SaudiArabia's Crown Prince #MohammadbinSalman is looking for readmission into the international fold, rights groups are slamming his visit to #France, barely four years after the murder of #Saudi journalist #JamalKhashoggi, as totally inappropriate. pic.twitter.com/CjySVXJB8q

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 29, 2022

Head of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard told AFP she felt "profoundly troubled by the visit." “There is really a rehabilitation at the international level of MBS. And this individual is a murderer,” Agnès Callamard told France Inter.

The latter had conducted an investigation into the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, columnist for the Washington Post and fervent critic of the Saudi regime when she was UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions.

On her part, Hatice Cengiz, fiancee of the Saudi journalist killed at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, said, "I am scandalized and outraged that Emmanuel Macron receives with all honors the executioner of my fiancé."

"The surge in energy prices because of the war in Ukraine cannot justify that in the name of an alleged realpolitik we absolve the person responsible for the Saudi policy towards political opponents which leads to their killing, as was the case for Jamall," she added.

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