Macron heads to Germany in first state visit in 24 years
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00:00 The optics are certainly on the agenda.
00:01 As you've just said, it's the first state visit for 24 years.
00:05 Emmanuel Macron may quite often meet with Olaf Schultz,
00:08 the German prime minister.
00:11 He's often in Berlin, but this is the first state visit.
00:14 He's invited by the German president, Frank-Walter
00:17 Steinmeier, and they're going to have a meeting today.
00:20 And on the agenda are such issues as different views
00:23 on nuclear power.
00:25 Germany gave up its last nuclear power station
00:27 three years ago.
00:28 France relies upon nuclear power for 70% of its energy.
00:32 They've also had different views on how
00:35 to support the Ukrainians in the war against Russia,
00:38 with the German prime minister being
00:41 very cautious about supplying missiles that could hit Russia.
00:44 He's ruled out the German-made Taurus missiles so far.
00:49 And on the other hand, you've had Emmanuel Macron recently
00:53 suggesting that we should be putting NATO boots
00:56 on the ground in Ukraine, which of course has elicited
00:59 the response from the Russians of carrying out nuclear drills
01:03 just recently.
01:04 So there are these points of contention,
01:07 but how close are the two countries?
01:09 What are their relations like?
01:10 Well, they are the two key big economies in the EU,
01:18 and there's a lot of collaboration
01:20 on scientific, economic, and research matters.
01:26 There's going to be a lot of pomp and circumstance today.
01:29 It's the 75th anniversary of the launch of the post-war German
01:34 Democratic Republic.
01:37 That's all going to be under focus today.
01:39 But in a couple of days' time, after President Macron
01:43 has been to Dresden, he'll be back
01:45 in Berlin for a bilateral cabinet
01:48 meeting between the French and German governments.
01:50 And Macron will also be in Münster.
01:52 So he's visiting the capital here in Berlin,
01:55 Dresden in the east, where he'll go to the Frauenkirche, which
01:58 was the church completely destroyed in Allied bombing
02:02 raids during the Second World War.
02:03 And then he'll be in Münster in the west.
02:05 So really covering all the points
02:07 and really sort of putting on a show just over a month
02:11 before--
02:12 sorry, just over a couple of weeks
02:13 before the European elections, really
02:17 to put on a united front.
02:19 There are very deep fears at the moment in Europe
02:21 about the surge in right-wing populist forces.
02:25 And this visit is designed to firm up
02:28 the relationship between the key two economies in the EU.