Emmanuel Macron on a diplomatic tour.

The French president was on Tuesday at a regional conference in support of Iraq on the shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan, in Sweimeh.

The Head of State notably congratulated Qatar for the Football World Cup and his "friend" Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi for the organization of COP27 in November, at the risk of attracting a new volley of reviews.

We summarize for you the main declarations of the President of the Republic. 



  • Emmanuel Macron greets his “friend” Sissi for COP27

“A few weeks ago, a COP which was organized by Egypt ended and I congratulate my friend President Sissi because Sharm el-Sheikh succeeded in bringing the world together and settling part of the subject of losses and harms which was absolutely key,” he added.

COP27 ended with the adoption of a highly disputed text on aid to poor countries affected by climate change, but also on a failure to set new ambitions for the reduction of greenhouse gases.

"And the next COP will be held in the United Arab Emirates, which shows how the region is becoming a diplomatic epicenter," said Emmanuel Macron.

The French president is also regularly criticized by human rights defenders for his links with the Egyptian president despite the repression in this country.

He notably presented him with the highest French distinction, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, during a state visit by Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to Paris in December 2020.

  • The president “assumes” his visit to Qatar despite criticism

“We are finishing a World Cup which is the first in the Arab world and which was held in Qatar and I congratulate them on that,” he also said.

The French head of state was strongly criticized by the opposition for having traveled twice to Qatar to support the French team and for his compliments on the organization of the event, despite the many controversies about human rights in this country and about the environmental impact of the Cup in air-conditioned stadiums.

Qatar is also at the heart of an investigation into resounding suspicions of corruption in the European Parliament.

“I totally assume”, launched the French president between the semi-final and the final of the Cup, finally lost by the Blues against the Argentines.

  • “Iraq today is the scene of influences, incursions, destabilizations”

During this regional conference of support for Iraq, Emmanuel Macron also pleaded for this country, under the influence of Iran, to embark on a path other than that of a “model dictated from the outside”.

“I want to tell you France's attachment through its history, its diplomatic action (..) for the stability of the region (…) so that there is a path which is not that of a form of 'hegemony, of imperialism, of a model that would be dictated from outside,' he said at the 'Baghdad II' summit on the shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan.

"Iraq today is the theater of influences, incursions, destabilizations which are linked to the whole region", added the French president without ever mentioning Iran which was represented at the conference by its head of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian diplomacy.

This summit, which brings together around Iraq and France the main players in the Middle East, including Iran and Saudi Arabia at loggerheads, aims to defuse the crises that are shaking the region.

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  • Egypt

  • Qatar

  • Emmanuel Macron

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