Emmanuel Macron on state visit to strengthen the Franco-German tandem

The French president on a state visit to Germany has not happened since Jacques Chirac’s visit 24 years ago. He is the first foreign head of state to be invited to Democracy Day, which celebrates the German Constitution, as the June 9 European elections approach. A month earlier, the president had called on the European Union to “startle” to avoid his death.

Once again, he insisted on the European democratic crisis. “In our democracies, we have become accustomed to democracy and we have forgotten that it is a struggle.”declared the president, referring to the nationalists as “enemies of democracy“.

Emmanuel Macron was then received at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, the residence of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, for a state dinner. The French president’s message seems to have been heard by his German counterpart. “We cannot rest on our achievements”, he indicated. The war in Ukraine was also discussed at length by the two presidents.