With the aim of bridging the differences and strengthening the image of the “German-French axis”, today Emmanuel Macron arrives in Berlin, in the first official visit of a French president to Germany after 24 years.

The dominant ones friction issues it is the military support of Ukraine, the European capital markets union and the development model in the European Union.

The three-day visit of the French president will start in the early afternoon, with his participation in the Democracy Day organized in Berlin, on the occasion of the completion of 75 years of constitutional democracy. As part of the celebratory event, Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Solz will discuss mainly what unites them, the protection of democracy and their common European vision, leaving aside their differences. At 16:15 (local time) the French president will proceed to Bellevue Palace, where he will be received with military honors by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. After the joint statements, the two presidents will visit the “Fans’ Mile” set up at the Brandenburg Gate for the European Football Championship to be held in June and July in Germany. The two countries, with the “German-French summer of sports 2024”, have already agreed to cooperate on guarding both the Euros and the Olympics hosted this year in Paris. In the evening, Mr. Steinmeier will host a formal dinner in honor of the French delegation.

Tomorrow the two presidents will visit the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, meet citizens in Moritzburg, Saxony, and then take part in the “Celebration of Europe” in Dresden. The celebratory part of the visit will conclude on Tuesday, when Emmanuel Macron will be honored with the Westphalian International Peace Prize in Münster, while the Franco-German Council of Ministers is already underway in Meseberg, a few kilometers north of Berlin.

“First comes the party – the work is certainly the least fun part. Above all, a solemn message must be given that the German-French relationship is more important than ever. The European partners are also waiting for a message of agreement between the two countries,” commented Eric-André Marten, an expert at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI), on German public television ARD.

Basic point of disagreement between the two leaders remains the military support of Ukraine, with Emmanuel Macron not even ruling out sending in ground forces, which Olaf Solz flatly rejects, along with the possibility of handing over long-range missiles to the Ukrainian armed forces. On the economic front, the approaches of the two governments differ, as Germany is interested in boosting its exports as much as possible, while France is interested in protecting the European market from China and the US, the two biggest trading partners of German industry.