Emmanuel Macron announces the sending of military resources to Saudi Arabia, sparking strong political reactions

“The situation is serious”: Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday the sending of “military means” to Saudi Arabia, defending his international action to lower fuel prices, without however ruling out having to ultimately lower taxes to prevent them from soaring. During an interview on the 8:00 p.m. news on TF1 and France 2, the President of the Republic dramatized the geopolitical issues, even more than when he received, last week, the party leaders and candidates to succeed him at the Élysée.

If he assured that the authorities were doing "everything" to "avoid" shortages, and that the supply of "diesel, gas, fuel oil" was guaranteed "by the end of the year", he did not completely rule out problems at the start of 2027 "if the crisis were to worsen". At issue, he reaffirmed: the war in the Middle East, and the extreme tensions in the strategic Straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, as well as, to a lesser extent, the war in Ukraine.

Emmanuel Macron therefore announced that he was committing “military means, that is to say soldiers, radars, defense systems”, to protect the Yanbu site, the main Saudi crude export terminal on the Red Sea but also a target of the Houthis in Yemen. However, he insisted that he did not want to “engage” France in the conflict between the kingdom and these pro-Iranian rebels.

“This is not the good idea”

The vice-president of the National Rally Sébastien Chenu estimated on Friday that “we should not send French soldiers” to protect the Yanbu site, a Saudi oil port and strategic link in the country's network of energy installations, as President Emmanuel Macron announced the day before.

“It’s not the good idea, it’s not the right path,” declared the far-right MP on RMC-BFMTV, judging that “it’s taking a certain number of risks that we don’t want to take (...) because we don’t have defense agreements that bind us and that make Saudi Arabia a partner.”

“France does not have to send troops to Saudi Arabia! Macron is putting his finger in a very dangerous gear. Mélenchon (LFI) is demanding a vote from Parliament,” declares RN deputy Florian Philippot. “Parliament must DEMAND a vote. Get moving! »

Mélenchon (LFI) demands a vote from Parliament

LFI presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon on Thursday called for a parliamentary vote on Emmanuel Macron's announcement of the sending of "military means" to "protect" the Yanbu site, the main Saudi crude export terminal on the Red Sea.

“Troops in Saudi Arabia are setting up in a theater of war. If the base is hit, what will we do? No question of becoming belligerent. So the Assembly must vote on the subject. Article 35 of the Constitution,” wrote Jean-Luc Mélenchon on X.

Clémence Guetté, vice-president of the National Assembly and LFI deputy for Val-de-Marne, speaks on France Inter: “The head of state cannot send troops to the Middle East without a discussion taking place in Parliament. »

“Emmanuel Macron wants to make a gesture towards Saudi Arabia which finds itself very alone,” said Dominique de Villepin, founder of the “La France Humaniste” party at the microphone of BFMTV.