The Franco-German partnership reached a real high point this week with several joint ministerial meetings and a total of four meetings between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Emmanuel Macron.
The venue on Friday was particularly symbolic: Augustusburg Palace in Brühl, western Germany, where President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer laid the foundation for the Franco-German partnership in 1962. Another highlight was Merz's participation in the parade on France's National Day, July 14, in Paris. The last time a German chancellor attended was in 2019, when Angela Merkel was in office.
German government spokesperson Steffen Meyer said beforehand that this was a personal honor for the chancellor, and dismissed speculation about a cooling of relations between Merz and Macron: "There is absolutely no question of a cooling of relations; on the contrary, the relationship is very good, and we are continuing to work to ensure that it stays that way."
France’s Bastille Day show of unityTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
But it's not quite that simple, believes Stefan Seidendorf, deputy director of the German-French Institute in Ludwigsburg.
