French diplomats saw the agreement as a win-win, a way to expand the country’s soft power through cultural diplomacy while opening up new revenue streams for French companies. They cited the Louvre Abu Dhabi museum as an example. The museum paid 400 million euros for the United Arab Emirates to use the Louvre name.
But the project was abandoned shortly after the signing ceremony, when the assassination of journalist and Saudi regime critic Jamal Khashoggi sparked widespread outrage and new scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
In the fall 2019 issue of Politique Internationale magazine, Gérard Mestrallet, president of France’s AlUla development agency, said he hopes the fund “will be used to finance civil works, ancient bridges, local castles or small churches.” , unlike Notre Dame Cathedral, we are not lucky enough to mobilize donors.”
The next few years were marked by intermittent silence, repeated relaunches, slow negotiations, and multiple downward adjustments to the Saudi financial contribution.
“Everything has been done to ensure this continues and the amount is reduced. In the past, Saudis may have wanted to please other countries, but today they put themselves first,” said the president of the French cultural institution.
Ministers cross the desert
French and Saudi negotiators finally met and finalized the terms of the agreement on January 31, 2022. Among those attending the meeting were Jean-Yves le Drian and Roselyne Bachelo, who were foreign ministers at the time. each.
