For the first time, an incumbent French President will set foot on Mongolian soil. In fact, this Sunday Emmanuel Macron travels to this landlocked country between China and Russia for a brief but symbolic visit.
The head of state has to stop in Ulaanbaatar after attending the G7 summit in Japan. Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, France has multiplied its efforts to speak to countries that have not unequivocally condemned the war being waged by Moscow. The visit to Mongolia is related to this.
Visit to the Genghis Khan Museum
With this visit, Paris also wants to strengthen bilateral relations in the areas of ecological change, agriculture, the agri-food sector and civil security. In Ulaanbaatar, where he will only spend the evening, Emmanuel Macron is due to meet and then have dinner with President Ukhnaa Khurelsukh.
He must also visit the Genghis Khan Museum, named after the great Mongolian conqueror of the 13th century. The institution will lend part of its collection to the Historical Museum of Nantes for an exhibition planned for October. Emmanuel Macron will also interview Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene. At the end of the evening he will leave for Paris.
A “very important” geostrategic question
Mongolia “has a liberal model of government that holds elections, knows change and also tries to diversify its partnerships in order to be more robust and be able to negotiate under better conditions with its large Russian and Chinese neighbors,” we explain in the wake of the French President. The Elysée also raises a “very important issue” at “a geostrategic level” that is part of Paris’ desire to “relax the constraints placed on Russia’s neighbors and allow them to choose their options.”
Mongolia is also part of the “strategy of diversifying European supplies to ensure our energy sovereignty,” says the Elysée. In particular, the French nuclear company Orano is working on a uranium mine project on Mongolian territory – possibly one of the largest in the world.
Washington’s Growing Interest
According to Elysée, the other challenge is to encourage foreign investment in the fight against global warming, to which the semi-desert country is particularly vulnerable. At the bilateral level, Paris sees “very significant opportunities for cooperation” as this Asian country, which “relies 90% on coal for its electricity supply”, has a “problem” with “decarbonising its economy”.
In addition, Ulaanbaatar has been attracting growing interest from the US for several years as part of its strategy to counter the rise of Beijing. Currently, 86% of all Mongolia’s exports of goods together go to China. Half of these Chinese purchases are coal.