This is bitter: In order to free Europe from its energy dependency on the warlord Putin, business with other autocrats and war leaders is being ramped up. Not only has EU Commission President von der Leyen just done business with the dictator in Baku (Azerbaijan), beaming.
Now Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is on a European tour, first in Greece and now in France, where he will be received by President Emmanuel Macron for a working lunch at the Elysée Palace. It was not until mid-July that US President Joe Biden, who had long kept his contacts to a minimum because of the Khashoggi murder, made a pilgrimage to Riyadh in search of energy supplies.
This completes the international rehabilitation of a regent who multiple international investigations have found to be behind the well-documented murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. (And which, for the past seven years, has been waging a proxy war against Iran in Yemen, whose civilian population is suffering the greatest suffering.)
Bin Salman’s ostracism lasted almost four years. The exploding energy prices are now making it acceptable again. This is called realpolitik and is necessary in view of the looming emergencies in western society.
Of course, maintaining this relationship undermines the argument of those who want to sever relations with Russia in the name of international law and forego energy to do so.
Therefore: please use renewable energies immediately and everywhere – also so that you no longer have to roll out the red carpet for evil rulers who happen to be in possession of mineral resources.
