Macron tours French naval base in Abu Dhabi near new Louvre

FULL STORY: French President Emmanuel Macron (Photo: Emmanuel Macron/Facebook)

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — French President Emmanuel Macron is touring a French naval base in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

A military band played “La Marseillaise” and an honour guard met Macron on Thursday morning at the naval base at Abu Dhabi’s Port Zayed.

Macron later boarded and walked through the French frigate Jean Bart.

The French naval base opened in 2009 and shows France’s deepening military co-operation with the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. It also stations troops and planes at Al-Dhafra Air Base, home to some of the 5,000 American troops stationed in the country.

Macron on Wednesday night helped inaugurate the new Louvre Abu Dhabi with his wife, Brigitte, alongside several kings and rulers in the Arab world.