Europeans Leaders Refuse to Hold Official Meeting with MBS

The source stressed that in recent weeks, the Saudi embassies in UK, France, and other European countries had been seeking to arrange an official meeting between MBS and leaders of the mentioned European countries.

But European leaders have strongly refused to accept MBS neither now nor in the near future.

The unanimous response of these European countries was that bin Salman could have informal meetings without an official welcome.

European officials do not want to meet with Bin Salman in any official way for fear of domestic and international criticism, the source added.

The news comes as, in March, Media watchdog ‘Reporters Without Borders’ [RSF] filed a criminal case in a German court against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and four other high-ranking officials for “crimes against humanity” in connection with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist critical of Saudi policies under the crown prince, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. The gruesome killing led by a Saudi hit squad drew global condemnation and adversely affected MBS’s global standing.

The CIA report, that announced that the Saudi Crown Prince had ordered the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, was the first official report in this regard.  The CIA report has led to the international isolation of the Saudi Crown Prince, at least for a relatively long time.

MBS has been in international isolation since 2017 after a coup against former Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef.