diplomacy
Scholz receives Macron for dinner in Potsdam
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD, r) and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. photo
© Fabian Sommer/dpa
Chancellor Scholz and French President Macron did not have a particularly good start together. Meanwhile, they’re trying to get the curve across – but the differences haven’t gone away.
For the first time in his 18 months as Chancellor, Olaf Scholz (SPD) is receiving a head of state or government at his place of residence in Potsdam. The French head of state Emmanuel Macron comes to a dinner in the capital of Brandenburg just outside of Berlin.
It is likely to be about the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, but also about European issues such as the EU Commission’s proposals for reforming the debt rules – a particularly controversial issue between Germany and France.
Macron and Scholz only saw each other last week at the European summit in Moldova, where they started a joint attempt to mediate in the conflict in northern Kosovo. That too could come up again.
Fresh start for the anniversary of the Élysée Treaty
The two did not have a good start after the change of government in Berlin in December 2021. In the past year, there has been a crunch in Franco-German relations. A joint cabinet meeting even had to be postponed in the fall due to major differences.
At the 60th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty on Franco-German friendship in Paris in January, the two sides tried to get the curve. The joint Council of Ministers was rescheduled, and Scholz and Macron ended the celebrations with a dinner at the French President’s favorite restaurant, Brasserie La Rotonde, in the Montparnasse district. In the first half of the 19th century, famous painters and writers from Pablo Picasso to Ernest Hemingway cavorted in the traditional restaurant.
Now Macron is arguably the most famous regular, which also gets La Rotonde in trouble. At the beginning of April, the restaurant was the target of an arson attack for the second time. Angry demonstrators set fire to a rally against Macron’s pension reform, an awning caught fire, but the fire brigade quickly put out the flames.
Potsdam as a relaxation exercise
For security reasons, it has not yet been announced in which restaurant Scholz and Macron are dining in Potsdam. The fact that the Chancellor is now inviting the French President to Potsdam, so to speak to his home, can be understood as a further relaxation exercise in the still tense relationship between the two countries.
The appointment for the one-on-one conversation precedes Macron’s major trip to Germany, in which Scholz will only play a supporting role. From July 2nd to 4th, the French head of state will come to Germany for a state visit at the invitation of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In addition to Berlin, stations are currently planned in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart and in Dresden.
According to the current planning status, Macron will only have breakfast with Scholz. A large state banquet is planned at Steinmeier’s in Bellevue Palace. It is the first state visit by a French President to Germany in 23 years. “This special event marks the beginning of a new chapter in the decades-long friendship between the two countries,” said a joint statement from the Office of the Federal President and the Élysée Palace at the beginning of May.