A noticeable shift in mood was apparent during French President Emmanuel Macron's three-day tour of five Gulf states, from his sombre demeanour on arrival in the UAE to an upbeat, combative tone in Doha.
Walking past the Emirati national guard at Abu Dhabi airport on Monday with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, Mr Macron looked stern, his brow furrowed and his steps deliberate.
The next day, after his plane landed in Doha flanked by Rafale jets, he greeted Qatar's ambassador to France, Sheikh Ali bin Jassim, with a hearty handshake. “How's the family?” Mr Macron asked the ambassador with a smile, before winking, as he often does, at the journalists watching from the sidelines.
Such highly choreographed moments in international diplomacy are difficult to compare, but the change in demeanour reflected a broader shift that took place between Mr Macron’s departure from Abu Dhabi on Tuesday and his arrival in Doha a few hours later.
By then, the key deliverable of his trip to the Gulf, which also included stops in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, had been announced. In the words of his advisers, France had secured in-kind compensation for its role as a reliable security ally to Gulf states, in the form of LNG shipments from Qatar and diesel sales from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE, equivalent to 10 per cent of French consumption.
Regain control
“When you have shown that you are there during difficult times, it is easier to gain visibility,” Mr Macron told reporters before departing Doha on Wednesday.
The energy announcements were aimed at a domestic audience as France grapples with violent social unrest, fuelled in part by high energy prices following Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
“I’ve had partners who understood that, as clients – as consumers – we have a need for this,” Mr Macron said.
The Gulf gave Mr Macron a platform to regain control of the narrative at home. The President made it clear that he considered this exchange of services with Gulf states a political victory. “It was important for us,” he said.
He also confirmed that defence co-operation had been high on the agenda, with an “important inter-governmental agreement” signed with the UAE to develop a joint strategy on the next generation of Dassault Rafale jets alongside deals with Qatar to upgrade its own Rafale jets.
The last leg of the trip, to Saudi Arabia, was kept under wraps until his plane had departed Doha, most likely because of security concerns following Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s airport and critical infrastructure.
The French presidency had adopted a similar communications strategy when Mr Macron travelled to Syria in July.
An hour-long meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman secured further commitments to supply diesel to France for “as many months as necessary”, the Elysee Palace said.
Ahead of the trip, Mr Macron's advisers had brushed aside persistent questions from journalists asking why Saudi Arabia was not included in the trip. There was no need, they argued, pointing to Prince Mohammed travelling to Paris in August.
But such reasoning appeared unconvincing, given that the tour aimed primarily to secure oil and gas guarantees from Gulf states and accelerate investment in alternative export routes that bypass the Strait of Hormuz.
Just before heading to the airport to fly to Riyadh, Mr Macron emerged from the Rosewood hotel in Lusail, Qatar, after taking questions from the press. He declined to answer questions about a hypothetical visit to Saudi Arabia.
Support to Saudi Arabia
Yet he appeared keen to highlight French military support to the kingdom, asking The National to repeat a question that had been drowned out by the media pack. The question referred to the UK announcing on Tuesday that it would send Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia and asked for clarification about French support.
“I think it is important for talks with the Houthis to resume and, obviously, for tensions to ease, because that would contribute to the same objective,” Mr Macron said. “Saudi Arabia has a very important pipeline that runs from the Arabian Gulf to the Red Sea, terminating at Yanbu. Several facilities have been destroyed by Houthi strikes. We have offered to help rehabilitate the site and, above all, secure it. For the past eight days, we have had personnel and capabilities deployed there.”
This means French military support has been in Saudi Arabia since October 13. Mr Macron had said on September 24 that France would dispatch soldiers, radars and air defence systems to Saudi Arabia to protect the strategic Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Contradictory information had since come out from the Foreign Ministry and the Elysee Palace about whether the mission had begun. The Defence Ministry has declined to give operational details.
In March, France sent air defence systems to the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.
Yet despite the strength of France’s ties with Gulf states, its influence over continuing Iran-US negotiations remains limited. Questioned by a Qatari broadcaster on whether he had come with a concrete mediation proposal on the table in his meeting with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim, Mr Macron did not answer directly.
Qatari mediation
Instead, he pointed to the French-British initiative to station an international naval mission in the Strait of Hormuz. The initiative has remained stalled since its announcement in April, as it requires a negotiated political solution to a conflict from which Europeans have been excluded. The French President said he had discussed “details and developments extensively” with Doha, and that “the coming hours and days would allow us to receive a response, particularly from Iran”.
For a country that punches above its diplomatic weight and is grappling with a mounting debt crisis, France makes a point of keeping up appearances abroad. Unlike many other European presidents who travel with their entire delegations on a single plane, Mr Macron travels with three aircraft: an Airbus A330-200 for him, his ministers and senior members of his delegation, including chief executives; an Airbus A330 MRTT for more junior members of his delegation and journalists; and a Dassault Falcon for the handful of pool reporters with access to some restricted meetings. The National was part of the second group.
Mr Macron took nearly a dozen questions from reporters in Doha, devoting the first half to the Middle East before switching to the French crisis. He had not spoken publicly about the violent protests that have shaken France for weeks since addressing the nation on Sunday night, before leaving for Kuwait, the first stop of his Gulf tour. His harshest words were for US President Donald Trump, who has blamed migrants for the protests. Mr Macron described his comments as “stupid”.
“Does Mr Trump not like France?” Mr Macron was asked. “One cannot help but notice,” he said. “When I see leaders that are campaigning in the region or on the other side of the Atlantic and sometimes with credulity pick up AI content or relay what some spheres want to make believe is happening in France, they’re campaigning on our back, so we don’t need that.”
With these comments, Mr Macron also appeared to be referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose relations with France have soured since Paris recognised Palestinian statehood alongside 10 other countries last year. The episode is a reminder that foreign policy – from relations with Israel, to the US and the Gulf – is playing an increasingly important role in French politics.
What remains to be seen is whether the French public appreciates Mr Macron’s diplomatic efforts. Critics accused him of appearing disconnected from reality by pressing ahead with his Gulf tour despite the worsening situation in France. Mr Macron said he had no regrets.
“What we are doing here is important for our citizens, so I decided to maintain it,” he said. More protests are planned for Saturday.