French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday (December 2), as his government looked close to collapse, Reuters reports.
Macron was welcomed to the Royal Palace in Riyadh by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, attending a welcome ceremony and holding a meeting, video released by the Saudi Royal Court showed.
Back at home, far-right and left-wing parties submitted no-confidence motions on Monday against French Prime Minister Michel Barnier after he said he would try to ram a social security bill through parliament without a vote as a last-minute concession proved insufficient to win the National Rally party's support for the legislation.
Barring a last-minute surprise, Barnier's fragile coalition will be the first French government to be forced out by a no-confidence vote since 1962 if the no-confidence vote goes ahead on Wednesday (December 4) as expected.
A government collapse would leave a hole at the heart of Europe, with Germany also in election mode, weeks ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump re-entering the White House.
