Mongolia is also part of the “European supply diversification strategy in order to guarantee our sovereignty in the field of energy,” according to the Elysee.
Emmanuel Macron arrived in Mongolia on Sunday for a short but symbolic visit, the first by a French president to the country located between China and Russia and arousing growing interest among Westerners.
The French President’s plane landed in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, at 18:30 local time (10:30 GMT), according to an AFP photographer accompanying the presidential delegation, after its participation in the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, which was hosted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky went to Hiroshima to address his main Western allies as well as the leaders of non-aligned countries such as Brazil or India, who were also invited to the summit.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, France has redoubled its efforts to speak to countries that have not clearly condemned the war waged by Moscow. The visit to Mongolia falls within this framework.
France also aims, with this visit, to strengthen bilateral relations with regard to environmental transformation, agriculture, agricultural food and civil security.
The Elysee said that Emmanuel Macron will hold talks in Ulaanbaatar, where he will spend the evening only, with President Okhnaji Khorlsukh, and then meet him again for dinner.
And he will visit the Genghis Khan Museum, which holds the Mongol conqueror in the thirteenth century.
The foundation will loan part of its collection to the Museum of History in Nantes, in western France, for an exhibition scheduled for October.
“a very big bet”
Emmanuel Macron will meet with Mongolian Prime Minister Lovsan Tamsray Oyon Erden.
He will leave Ulaanbaatar for Paris in the evening.
A source in the French president’s circle said that visiting “Mongolia on the way back allows us to create this historical precedent by giving it a very special meaning.”
“Mongolia is a country surrounded by Russia and China, but it is also a country with a liberal model of governance, which holds elections, which has seen rotation and, moreover, seeks to diversify its partnerships to be more powerful and able to deal under better conditions with its two great neighbours,” he added.
And the French presidency spoke of a “very important issue” on the “geostrategic” level, which falls within the framework of Paris’ desire to “ease the restrictions imposed on Russia’s neighbors and open the way for them to make their own choices.”
Mongolia is also part of the “European supply diversification strategy in order to guarantee our sovereignty in the field of energy,” according to the Elysee.
The French nuclear group Urano is working in particular on a uranium mine project on Mongolian territory – it could become one of the largest projects in the world.
American strategy
The Elysee said that the other challenge of the visit will be to encourage foreign investment in Mongolia in combating global warming, which the semi-desert country, which witnesses very high temperatures, seems very weak about.
On a bilateral level, Paris believes there is “very great potential for cooperation” because Mongolia, “depends ninety percent on coal for electricity generation” and has a “problem” of “decarbonizing its economy”.
Mongolia has already been attracting increasing attention from the United States for years, as part of the American strategy to contain the rise of Beijing.
Currently, 86 percent of Mongolia’s total exports of all commodities go to China. Coal accounts for half of these Chinese purchases.
Mongolia has witnessed political instability since the adoption of its first democratic constitution in 1992 when it emerged from the orbit of the Soviet Union.
France and Mongolia established diplomatic relations in 1965.
