France: Macron visits Mongolia

French President Emmanuel Macron also went to Mongolia for a short visit on Sunday after the G7 summit. It is also the first visit by a French president to the country that is sandwiched between China and Russia and can count on growing interest from the West.

Mongolia is a completely landlocked country between China and Russia, but also a country with a liberal model of government (…) that wants to diversify its partnerships to be more robust and able to better negotiate with big neighbors Russia and China. belong to the entourage of the French president according to Belga. He also mentioned a “very important matter” at a “geostrategic level”.

But Ukraine was not the only focus of this brief visit. Because France also wants to strengthen bilateral ties in the field of energy. In particular, Emmanuel Macron defended the case of the French nuclear group Orano, already present in the country and a candidate for a large-scale uranium mining project that has yet to receive approval from the Mongolian government, possibly one of the largest mines in the world.

On a bilateral level, according to Belga, France “estimates that there are significant opportunities for cooperation as Mongolia, which is 90 percent dependent on coal for its electricity, is struggling to decarbonise its economy.” Mongolia exports coal to China.

The United States has also turned its attention increasingly to Mongolia in recent years, as part of the American strategy to stem Beijing’s advance.

photo: screenshot report France 24