His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, met on Wednesday Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces, and discussed with her ways of consolidating ties of friendship and cooperation between the UAE and France through joint military and defense coordination and cooperation.
During the meeting, which took place at Sheikh Mohamed’s residence in the French capital Paris, the two parties exchanged views on an array of latest regional and global issues of mutual interest, Emirates News Agency WAM reported.
Earlier, Sheikh Mohamed has emphasized that the UAE and France are partners in the fight against extremism and terrorism, support values of tolerance, promote dialogue, interaction and coexistence among peoples, civilizations and cultures, reject intolerance and hatred, and work for peace, stability and development in the Middle East and the world.
This was stated when His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed met Wednesday with Emmanuel Macron, President of France, in Paris as part of his official visit to the country.
The two sides discussed cooperation and bilateral relations in a number of vital fields, ways to enhance the economy, trade, investments and ways to benefit from the multiple investment opportunities in the two countries in the light of the strong historic relations and joint strategic interests.
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed conveyed the greetings of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to the President of France and his wishes of more progress and prosperity to the French people.
He also appreciated the desire of the French President to support the UAE-French relations, while stressing that the UAE is paying more attention to ties with France and always seeks to develop them in the political, economic, security, cultural and other areas.
Sheikh Mohamed said that there is a mutual pursuance between the two countries to continue consultations at the highest levels on joint issues, especially in light of the institutional frameworks to strengthen and promote such consultation, such as the joint UAE-France Committee and the UAE-France Strategic Dialogue, and others.
He pointed out that the partnership between the UAE and the French Republic depends not only on political, economic and security aspects, but on cultural aspects as well, which is reflected in many institutions, such as the Paris-Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and Louvre Abu Dhabi as well as cooperation between the two countries for the protection of cultural heritage in conflict areas.
The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi said that the ties between the two countries have transcended the concept of mutual economic, political and cultural interests to reach the level of convergence in a common humanitarian message that calls for dialogue of cultures and civilizations, spreading the concept of tolerance, rejecting all forms of extremism and terrorism, and achieving peace and prosperity for the peoples of the world.
Sheikh Mohamed said that the UAE is keen on strengthening its cultural and scientific relations, particularly with the friendly countries that have long historic contributions in these fields, based on a prime principle adopted by the country in its foreign policies, which is the importance of communicating with other peoples, cultures and civilizations.
The French President welcomed the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed and was confident that it would contribute to enhancing constructive cooperation between both countries.
The meeting was attended by Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation; Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority, EAA, and Mohamed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Under-Secretary of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi.
