(The Guardian) Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a changing world order are straining ties between France and Germany as they prepare to celebrate 60 years since a post-second world war treaty sealed their reconciliation, AFP reports.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected in Paris on 22 January to meet President Emmanuel Macron before the pair lead a joint cabinet meeting to mark the Élysée treaty signed on 22 January 1963. But the two leaders’ relationship is seen as cordial at best. “Scholz isn’t very European at all, he’s much more ‘Germany first’,” a senior member of Macron’s Renaissance party, who asked not to be named, told reporters this week.
In Paris, there’s an impression of German “disinterest in the French-German relationship”, said Jacob Ross, a researcher at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin.
The frictions are even being felt by the public, with 36% of French respondents and 39% of Germans telling pollster Ipsos this week that relations were suffering. But the legacy of the 1963 treaty – signed in Paris by Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle – remains strong on everything from military cooperation to youth exchanges.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected in Paris on 22 January to meet President Emmanuel Macron before the pair lead a joint cabinet meeting to mark the Élysée treaty signed on 22 January 1963. But the two leaders’ relationship is seen as cordial at best. “Scholz isn’t very European at all, he’s much more ‘Germany first’,” a senior member of Macron’s Renaissance party, who asked not to be named, told reporters this week.
In Paris, there’s an impression of German “disinterest in the French-German relationship”, said Jacob Ross, a researcher at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin.
The frictions are even being felt by the public, with 36% of French respondents and 39% of Germans telling pollster Ipsos this week that relations were suffering. But the legacy of the 1963 treaty – signed in Paris by Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle – remains strong on everything from military cooperation to youth exchanges.
