On Mon., French Pres. Emmanuel Macron and his UAE counterpart Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed oversaw the signing of an energy supply cooperation deal between energy giant Total Energies and UAE-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
France's government has stated that this partnership will favor new industrial contacts to explore joint investments around hydrogen, renewable energy, and nuclear power.
This agreement with the UAE is vitally important to France. It will address the pressing short-term energy security challenges stemming from the Russian war against Ukraine while also paving the way for a transition to cleaner energy in the future.
The latest exploits of European countries to find alternatives to Russian fuel imports expose how little the EU is interested in global human rights, democracy, and values. The UAE is an authoritarian state, and France only cares about its energy security.