Macron e Merz si incontrano, desiderosi di rilanciare il motore francese-tedesco

**France has welcomed the future German chancellor’s initial positions on defense and Ukraine.**

For now, he is only the winner of the election and in talks with the Social Democratic Party over forming a coalition have only just begun. But he is already acting as the future German chancellor. Three days after his victory, the Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz dined with President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday, February 26. The two leaders are keen to revive the French-German engine, as relations between the French president and the outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, have never been smooth. Donald Trump’s desire to rush through a peace agreement with Vladimir Putin to put an end to the war in Ukraine, and the threat of the United States withdrawing from European security arrangements, are acting as an electroshock.

This is contrary to the usual practice in Germany, where the chancellor waits until he has been sworn in by the Bundestag, which can take months, before making diplomatic visits. But the Christian Democratic leader seems determined to move very quickly, given the acuteness of the crisis. “Together, our countries can achieve great things for Europe,” wrote Friedrich Merz on X after the meeting. “Thank you very much, dear Emmanuel Macron, for your friendship and the trust you place in French-German relations,” he added, in French and German, in this message accompanied by a photo of the two men.

Nothing has emerged from the discussions, but the first steps of the next chancellor are being closely scrutinized in Paris. All the taboos that have hitherto prevailed across the Rhine when it comes to security are falling away. The transatlantic alliance, a foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany since the Second World War, is being called into question. “My absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible, so that we can gradually achieve true independence from the United States,” declared Friedrich Merz on election night, February 23, adding that he “would never have thought of saying that on television.”

**Read the full article here:** [**https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/02/27/macron-and-merz-meet-keen-to-revive-french-german-engine_6738643_4.html**](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/02/27/macron-and-merz-meet-keen-to-revive-french-german-engine_6738643_4.html)

That engine only works when the German economy is humming. It is not humming at this point in time.

The Germans are too flaky.

Holy Roman Empire.,💪

The last time the French and Germans worked on an engine, we got the PSA Prince. It took 10 years and the Germans to bugger off for it to work properly.

Wild that Merz would still write the post to X. Does he also make the same post elsewhere? Or is he giving exclusive content to x?