'Depth of Franco-German bond': Macron to meet German president in rare state visit

euronews (in English)

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on Sunday in what is seen as the highest level of diplomatic courtesy gestures.

Transcript

00:00 French President Emmanuel Macron will make a state visit to Germany this Sunday,

00:04 the first trip of its kind for a French president in 24 years.

00:09 And although Macron visits Berlin regularly to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz,

00:15 a state visit can only be extended by Germany's head of state,

00:19 who is the president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

00:22 The goal of this visit is to strengthen the bond of the Franco-German relations.

00:28 This visit is a crucial moment for the Franco-German couple,

00:32 but also for Europe, two weeks before the European elections.

00:35 The idea is to find points of convergence between France and Germany

00:42 on issues of the future, such as technology, innovation and artificial intelligence.

00:49 And during the state visit, there will be other very important issues, such as democracy.

00:53 The two presidents are going to celebrate the 75 years of the German constitution.

00:59 The state visit will be followed by a Franco-German council of ministers alongside Chancellor Scholz.

01:04 And it's a state visit that's seen in quite a positive light by some of the Berliners that we talked to.

01:09 I am very much in favor of Macron. I like him very much. I like his policy.

01:16 The only thing I don't want is that he sends ground troops to defend the air superiority in Ukraine.

01:28 We should end this stupid war.

01:31 I think it's great if it's a state visit to promote the strengthening of Europe.

01:37 Emmanuel Macron originally planned to visit Germany in July last year,

01:41 but then had to cancel last minute due to riots in France.

01:46 The visit comes at a tense time for both European countries,

01:50 with polls suggesting that Eurosceptic parties could make significant gains in the upcoming EU elections.

01:56 Both countries will be focused at presenting a united European front during the visit.

02:03 Liv Stroud in Berlin for Euronews.

02:06 [SWOOSH]

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