Emmanuel Macron, known for his vibrancy, appeared noticeably tired on Tuesday evening after concluding a rigorous three-day diplomatic venture in Germany, the first by a French president in nearly a quarter of a century. During a press conference held together, Chancellor Olaf Scholz – hinting towards the supper to come – humorously commented that both leaders still had quite a distance to traverse in transforming rhetoric into substantial political change.
The three-day encounter didn’t result in a resolution to the strong differences between France and Germany on the avenues and resources the EU’s two largest nations should utilise to address major challenges ranging from security to climate policy. However, Macron noted their eventual consensus is always achieved in the end, adding “this is what truly matters for the future”.
The future of the EU is uncertain, he cautioned earlier, stating the permanence of neither Europe nor peace could be assured, with threats stemming from the radicalism of a minority and the indifference of the majority. Macron, during an event in Dresden, the capital of Saxony, alerted that there are rising ultra-right forces in Europe and urged for heightened awareness.
He expressed concern that it might already be too late for the forthcoming European elections, particularly for Saxony, where a state election in four months could possibly result in the extreme right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, currently polling at 35%, becoming the dominant party in the state parliament.
Macron’s position on Russia, previously echoed in his speech at Sorbonne, was interpreted differently by the eastern Germans in Dresden. A significant number of residents here experienced life behind the Iron Curtain, with only 53% of them viewing Russia as their main security concern, as per a recent survey, compared to 80% in Western Germany. Meanwhile, Michael Kretschmer, Premier of the state of Saxony, seemed to suggest in December Ukraine should agree to a ceasefire and relinquish contested lands, after listening to Macron’s words in Dresden.
During the concluding media briefing with German leader Scholz, Macron, the leader of France, unexpectedly exhibited a map with the intent to illustrate the count of missile installation stations situated behind Russian boundaries. Ukraine is incapable of reaching this area due to a commitment it has made to not deploy Western armoury on targets outside of its own jurisdiction.
“What we aspire for is the capability to assault these missile initiation sites,” Macron asserted. He added that they would not permit other sites, especially those populated with civilians, to come under attack. He expressed his belief that a targeted approach would not trigger any escalation of violence.
The German leader, Scholz, who has been rather vocal about his apprehensions regarding escalating violence, portrayed a more guarded and yet seemingly more adaptable stance.
“Ukraine reserves every right in accordance with global law when it comes to its actions. It was the victim of an attack and has the right to safeguard itself,” Scholz stated. He went on to express his confusion regarding certain discourse surrounding possible restrictions on Ukraine’s defensive measures, insisting that such conditions were never put in place by themselves or any other European country or allies.
The press conference helmed by the two leaders hinted at certain matters that remained unresolved, primarily the issue of Berlin’s failure to provide a comprehensive response to a French proposal advocating increased EU collaboration to address major challenges ranging from climate change to shared European security.
Moreover, Macron recommended a twofold increase in the Brussels budget, suggesting that it be financed through investment strategies or by issuing shared debt. He further declared that such an initiative had been implemented on two prior occasions, referring to the 2014 “Juncker plan” for infrastructure investment and to the €750 billion pandemic recovery fund supported, in part, by debt issued by the EU. Macron went on to remind Scholz, who was acting as the German finance minister at the time, about how he had sanctioned the latter plan.
However, in his role as chancellor, Scholz has adopted a more guarded stance. With Germany currently grappling with an economic downturn, Scholz has assigned his neoliberal finance minister the task of cutting back on domestic expenditure, leaving no room for additional European obligations.
As a result, in a joint opinion piece for the Financial Times, both Scholz and Macron collectively called for Europe to target private investment sources and to fully utilise the capabilities of their capital markets.
Evening discussions about boosting defence collaboration and working on air defences are scheduled. However, German experts indicated that France and Germany have a considerable amount of lingering irritations from the past couple of years to reconcile.
“It’s clear that people are anticipating significant improvements,” expressed Professor Vorländer from Dresden Technical University. Yet, he expressed concern about the lack of novel ideas and a pessimistic outlook that the varying viewpoints may not reconcile.