French President Emmanel Macron and German academic Olaf Scholz. Reuters
President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Germany on Sunday for the first official visit by a French head of state in 24 years, a three-day trip aimed at underscoring the strong ties between the European Union’s traditional leading powers.
The visit was originally scheduled to take place last July but was postponed at the last minute after riots erupted in France following the police killing of a 17-year-old boy.
Macron visits Germany frequently as Paris and Berlin try to align their foreign policy positions with the EU, but this will be the country’s first major state visit since Jacques Chirac in 2000. Macron and his wife Brigitte are being hosted by Germany’s ceremonial president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The visit comes as Germany celebrates the 75th anniversary of the founding of its post-World War II constitution.
Steinmeier will host a state dinner for Macron at Berlin’s Bellevue Palace on Sunday evening. The two presidents will then fly to the eastern city of Dresden on Monday, where Macron will give a speech, before traveling to Münster in western Germany on Tuesday. After the state visit, Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and ministers from both countries are due to meet later on Tuesday at the government guesthouse outside Berlin.
Germany and France, the EU’s largest economies, have long been seen as the driving forces behind European integration, even as their neighbors often differ in their policies and priorities on a range of issues.
That became evident earlier this year with differing positions on whether Western countries should rule out sending ground troops to Ukraine, with both countries strongly backing Kiev.
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