Both sides agreed to restore diplomatic relations based on mutual respect and common interestsGlobal Affairs Canada wrote in a statement.

The warming of ties between the two countries comes six months after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in Bangkok, Thailand.

Relations between the two countries have been on hold since 2018 after the arrest in Saudi Arabia of women’s rights activist Samar Badawi, the sister of Raif Badawi, who himself has been imprisoned in that country since 2012.

The latter had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his progressive contributions published on a blog. He also suffered 50 lashes, a painful ordeal for him and his family, who were forced to leave the country and settle in Canada.

Diplomatic break

At the time of Raif Badawi’s sister’s arrest, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland publicly expressed concern about her fate on Twitter and called for her release.

In retaliation, Saudi Arabia announced the expulsion of Canada’s ambassador, recalled its ambassador, forced the departure of thousands of students and froze any new trade or investment with Canada.

The kingdom condemned this dictates Canada, which had criticized the repression of opponents of the regime.

On Wednesday, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly indicated that the two countries would do so appoint new ambassadorsand a press release from his ministry indicated that Jean-Philippe Linteau would be the new emissary to the kingdom.

This announcement from Riyadh is the latest in a series of rapprochements between Saudi Arabia and other countries, including a few weeks ago Iran, the rival regional power, and then Syria.

The kingdom is also trying to make efforts to secure a ceasefire in Sudan, where two generals have been at war since April 15.

A change of tone in Riyadh

According to Thomas Juneau, a professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa, the position that has changed in recent years is Saudi Arabia’s, not Canada’s, which has still not apologized for calls for respect for human rights in the kingdom.

The specialist recalls that between 2016 and 2019 Saudi foreign policy has been very aggressive, particularly in relation to the war in Yemen, the embargo on Qatar and the kidnapping [de l’ancien] Lebanese Prime Minister [Saad Hariri].

For a year or two, the Saudi side has been making great efforts to completely change its foreign policy and to distance itself as much as possible from regional conflicts.adds Mr. Juneau.

” All because [le prince héritier d’Arabie saoudite] Mohammed bin Salman has a very ambitious program of social and economic reforms […] which does not mean democratization [mais qui] wants to revolutionize Saudi Arabia. »

The Prince, nicknamed “MBS”, He understood that his reform goals would not work if Saudi Arabia was involved in all sorts of military or diplomatic disputessays Mr. Juneau.

according to him the dispute with Canada obviously plays a subordinate role in this calculation, […] but that does not prevent by resolving this conflict MBS would like to send a signal to European countrieshoping to attract more and more western investment to the kingdom.