Exactly 3 years ago, Doha announced two major contracts for the French defense industry : the exercise of an option to acquire 12 aircraft Rafale additional to the 24 already ordered, as well as a €2 billion contract to acquire 490 Armored Infantry Combat Vehicles, or VBCI, manufactured by Nexter. If the order Rafale went perfectly, and is almost finished today, the VBCI file has, for its part, experienced numerous delays, with the process of selecting the turret which was to equip the armored vehicle, then due to increasing tensions strongest opponents Paris and Doha on issues unrelated to this one.
Indeed, the growing tensions between Paris and Ankara, whether on Syrian, Libyan and Aegean issues, ended up reaching Qatar, a country very close to Turkey and especially to its President RT Erdogan, with whom the Emir of Qatar shares a deep attachment to the Brotherhood of the Muslim Brotherhood, also in the crosshairs of the French authorities. In addition, France's good relations with the United Arab Emirates, with which Qatar is in increasingly intense competition, did not help calm the situation. To complete the whole thing, the French justice indicted in March 2019 Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, president of Bein Media Group and of Paris Saint Germain, and favorite of the Emir of Qatar, for suspicion of corruption in the attribution of television rights. of the 2026 World Cup which will take place in the country.
There are 75% of this article left to read, Subscribe to access it!
The Classic subscriptions provide access to
articles in their full version, and without advertising.
Meta-Defense celebrates its 5th anniversary!
- 20% on your Classic or Premium subscription, with the code Metanniv24
Offer valid from May 10 to 20 for the online subscription of a new Classic or Premium, annual or weekly subscription on the Meta-Defense website.