“In a context of political tensions” between Berlin and Paris, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, met the French President, Emmanuel Macron, at the Élysée, on Wednesday October 26, reports the German wave.
“The two leaders, whose countries are seen as the common engine of the European Union, made an effort to smile when Scholz got out of his black Mercedes for a handshake, recount The Guardian, but the German Chancellor seemed to dodge when Macron tried to put an arm behind his back.
“Camouflage” for Scholz
After this interview, they “highlighted their commonalities”in the words of the German wave. Mr Scholz said on Twitter that he had a “very good and important conversation” with Mr. Macron. He said the discussion focused on Europe’s energy supply, rising prices and joint armament projects. “Germany and France are close and meet the challenges together”said the Chancellor.
The Élysée only declared that the meeting had been “very constructive”adding that it had led to the establishment of working groups on energy, defense and innovation, remarks The evening.
But for Politico Europewhich recalls their recent differences on the energy crisis, on European defense and on the approach to adopt towards China, “the absence of a joint press conference at the end of the interview tells a different story.” “Relations are now so icy between Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz (…) that they dare not even be seen together”, decrypts the media. The authors of the article see there “a snub for Scholz, [qui] had surrendered [dans la capitale française] with a full team of journalists”.
Disagreements
Tensions erupted in broad daylight last week, when a Franco-German Council of Ministers scheduled for Fontainebleau was postponed until January, traces Politico. Et “disagreements between the two governments were also widely visible at last week’s EU summit in Brussels”.
“Historically, France and Germany have had opposing positions on certain issues, but recently a series of French and German decisions have strained the relationship between Europe’s two largest economies”explains the German wave.
Berlin recently voted a 200 billion euro aid plan for individuals and businesses in the face of soaring prices without informing France, “which could disrupt the gas and electricity market”. Moreover, the new agreement concluded by Germany with 14 NATO countries and Finland to create a common air defense program on the continent excludes France.
Conversely, notes German radio and television, “Mr Macron’s recent deal with Spain and Portugal to build a new gas pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille has left Berlin in the lurch as its hopes of benefiting from Iberian gas through a other gas pipeline linking Spain to France via the Pyrenees are probably reduced to nothing”.
“Macron and Scholz will have at least burst the abscess”concludes The evening.