Shadow of disagreements over Macron’s trip to Germany

According to the report of the international group Tasnim news agency, newspaper ” In a report on French President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Germany, Pasir Noye Presse wrote: French President Emmanuel Macron started his three-day official trip to Germany today amid the differences between Berlin and Paris. It is the first visit of its kind by a French president in 24 years.

Macron will arrive in Berlin early this afternoon before celebrating the 75th anniversary of the constitution. Berlin will first visit the democracy festival in the state region with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the federal president of the country. There will be political events, a press conference, a walk through the Brandenburg Gate and, in the evening, a state banquet at the Bellevue Palace. His wife Brigitte Macron also accompanies him on this trip.

From Steinmeier’s point of view, the host of this meeting aims to highlight and celebrate uniqueness. Germany and France are friends. He and Macron also want to use this meeting to encourage the German people to vote in the European elections in two weeks. This is at least based on the concern that experience shows that low voter turnout favors right-wing parties. In the 2019 European elections, participation in Germany was 61.4%.

According to the Office of the Federal President of Germany, in order to emphasize the uniqueness of the relationship between Germany and France, from Macron was invited as the only foreign guest to the celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the Berlin Constitution. Those around Steinmeier emphasized: We want to send a symbolic signal that this friendship between Germany and France really belongs to the depths of Germany’s heart and the political image of this republic.

As good as the two heads of state get along, relations between Berlin and Paris are currently considered somewhat strained at the governmental level. There are always differences of opinion between these two countries on key issues. These differences are about how to properly support Ukraine and also about the direction of the economic policy towards the competitors of the United States of America and China. These issues are supposed to be discussed in the German Council of Ministers after this state visit on Tuesday afternoon next week. France will be discussed at Mesberg Castle, the federal government’s guest house, north of Berlin. , is the harbinger of more autonomy for Europe. On the other hand, Olaf Schultz, Chancellor of Germany adheres to his transatlantic orientation and China as an important trade partner. On the other hand, in the Ukraine conflict, Macron surprised Schultz with his thoughts about sending ground troops to this country, which the German chancellor categorically rejects.

Schultz It also denies the delivery of long-range Taurus cruise missiles to this country attacked by Russia. On the other hand, France has long made its scalp missiles available to Kiev. On the other hand, Berlin accuses Paris of doing too little for Ukraine as the EU’s second largest economy.

Macron, in his second speech last April, It warned that there was a great risk that Europe would be “weakened or even outclassed” in the next decade. He called for a European defense strategy with a joint arms industry and an acceleration of rearmament with EU funds to counter the Russian threat. Schultz commented on the speech on Platform X. Addressing Macron, he added: “Your speech contains good ideas on how to achieve this goal.” Lain, President of the European Union Commission, are united. But so far they have not reached an agreement on a common nomination. Macron is currently working behind the scenes on a nomination for Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank. In this way, France will expand its position in southern Europe and surpass Germany.

Berliner Zeitung newspaper also wrote in an article: Germany and France They see a dead end. The heads of the most powerful countries of the European Union are eyeing each other, no one wants to make a mistake, a wrong step can strengthen the rival. Common European defense policy is not progressing because national industries do not want to compromise and are afraid of market losses. Macron wants to reduce US influence in the European Union and has offered Germany protection under France’s security architecture – including an atomic bomb, which Berlin, of course, opposes.

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