“Germany had the economic superiority, France the strategic superiority. The war in Ukraine is confusing the cards »

2023-07-05 05:00:01

After having forced Paris to cede to Berlin the privilege of King Charles III’s first visit to the continent at the end of March, the social climate therefore deprived the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, of a State visit to Germany, planned July 2-4. Protocol matters derisory in view of what is being played out on the ground? Without a doubt.

Read also the decryption: Article reserved for our subscribers Emmanuel Macron’s diplomacy undermined by repeated internal crises

But as much as the visit of King Charles III was symbolic, the Head of State’s three-day trip to Germany seemed politically opportune: the exchanges that were to take place arrived at the right time, for two reasons. The first is geopolitical. Franco-German relations are deeply shaken by the shock wave of the Russian war in Ukraine. Pillar of the European Union (EU) since its creation, the tandem must now overcome the questioning of its certainties and envisage the future in a European environment where its dominant role will no longer be self-evident.

A week before this visit, Tuesday June 27, Paris-Berlin fans returned to the comfort zone of the world before. Angela Merkel had interrupted her retirement and the writing of her Memoirs to come and receive, in Paris, an honorary doctorate from Sciences Po, a school through which, she noted, the four French presidents she worked with during his sixteen years in power. The former German Chancellor recalled that with each of them she had faced a different crisis: that of the European referendum of 2005 with Jacques Chirac, that of sovereign debts with Nicolas Sarkozy, that of the annexation of Crimea with François Holland, and that generated by the Covid-19 pandemic with Emmanuel Macron.

Each time, she said, starting from different positions, Paris and Berlin managed to find a solution together. “for the good of Europe”. Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande also came to dine with her after the ceremony at Sciences Po; Emmanuel Macron was traveling to Marseille. Suffice to say that the world before was not a long calm river either. But when we got down to a crisis “in Franco-German”we had a chance of reaching a compromise that would suit almost everyone.

A fading dichotomy

Since February 24, 2022, it is more complicated. This time, Paris and Berlin started from the same position. The problem is, it wasn’t the right one. Ms. Merkel avoided saying it in her speech at Sciences Po, but it is her legacy. Like Germany, France had bet on dialogue with Russia – until the last moment, those days in February when, one after another, President Macron and Chancellor Scholz made the trip to Moscow to trying, in vain, to convince Putin to give up attacking Ukraine.

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