diplomacy
Macron cancels Germany visit due to unrest
Emmanuel Macron postpones the planned state visit to Germany because of the riots in France. photo
© Lewis Joly/AP Pool/AP/dpa
The multi-day state visit by French President Macron and his wife Brigitte to Germany was meticulously planned for months. Now comes the short-term cancellation: there is a fire in France.
It has been speculated for days whether France’s president Emmanuel Macron can really come to Germany for a state visit given the unrest in his country. In a phone call with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Macron canceled the visit on Saturday afternoon. The Office of the Federal President announced that the trip planned from Sunday to Tuesday should be made up for as soon as possible. The Élysée Palace in Paris also confirmed the cancellation.
The background is the ongoing riots in the neighboring country after the death of a 17-year-old during a police check near Paris on Tuesday. For the fourth night in a row, there were riots from Friday to Saturday with hundreds of arrests, looting and arson attacks. On Saturday afternoon, everyone looked again at Nanterre, the hometown of the 17-year-old who was shot. He should be buried there. It was feared that the burial could heat up the situation again.
Steinmeier hopes for an end to the violence
Macron informed Steinmeier on the phone about the situation in France and asked him to postpone the state visit, the Office of the Federal President said. Steinmeier regretted the cancellation, but I fully understand the situation in the neighboring country. The Federal President follows the development with great attention. He hopes “that the violence on the streets will end as soon as possible and that social peace can be restored,” said Steinmeier.
The state visit had been meticulously prepared between Berlin and Paris for months: the Macrons were initially planned to be received by Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender in front of the residential palace in Ludwigsburg (Baden-Württemberg) with military honors. A visit to Berlin was also on the program, with a state banquet in the park of Bellevue Palace, a trip by special train to Dresden and, as a highlight, a keynote address on Franco-German relations in front of the Frauenkirche. It would be difficult to implement the strictly scheduled plan with many participants in many places quickly or “as soon as possible” from a logistical point of view.
A celebration of Franco-German friendship
It would have been the first state visit by a French president to Germany in 23 years. From the point of view of the Office of the Federal President, the Franco-German friendship should be celebrated and a new chapter opened at the same time. Both sides have been trying for some time to move closer together again. A few weeks ago, Macron was the first head of state to visit Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) at his place of residence in Potsdam.
But now foreign policy has to wait and Macron has to take care of domestic politics again. It is not the first time this year: in the spring, the visit of British King Charles III was canceled due to the French pension protests. in France canceled at short notice.