Chancellor Angela Merkel, host Emmanuel Macron
Photo: CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFPGermany and France are urging closer agreement within the EU in the fight against the corona pandemic. "We definitely want to avoid closing borders again," said Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday evening after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at his summer residence, Fort de Brégançon. She was alluding to the first wave of the pandemic, in which Germany, for example, had closed its borders with neighboring western states, with a few exceptions such as commuters. "We agreed that we would work a lot closer together," she added.
Like Macron, Merkel emphasized that it was important to develop similar criteria when dealing with the pandemic, for example for classifying risk areas. Even in Germany, many people do not understand that different federal states have imposed different corona measures. The same applies to Europe. In the long run, things are not going well when, for example, German high school graduates travel to other countries to celebrate there, which is currently prohibited in Germany. "I sense the will to act together in Europe, even if we have a lot to learn," she said. Macron stated that the EU must also work closely together on the development of a vaccine and the production of anti-corona drugs.
Merkel and Macron also discussed how to deal with the conflict between Greece and Turkey at their meeting. The two countries are currently arguing over natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean. Greece accuses Turkey of illegally exploring natural gas reserves off the Greek islands. The government in Ankara rejects the allegations. It takes the position that the waters in which natural gas is being drilled on a trial basis belong to the Turkish continental shelf.
The situation in the eastern Mediterranean is very critical, stressed Merkel. Germany and France agree that "we will not accept attacks on the sovereignty of member states of the European Union". She went on to say: "We stand for solving problems in discussions and not by escalating tensions. This applies to everyone involved." The Chancellor therefore called on both states to resolve their dispute at the negotiating table: "We need stability there - and not tension," stressed the Chancellor.
Other topics of the meeting between Merkel and Macron were the coup in Mali, the implementation of the decisions of the EU summit on corona aid and the development in Lebanon and Libya. Despite the close Franco-German contacts, it was the first time that Merkel was a guest in the presidential residence in Bormes-les-Mimosas. The 17th century building with a large garden in front of the coast serves as an occasional accommodation for the French heads of state. Most recently in August 1985, then President François Mitterrand received a Chancellor from Germany: Helmut Kohl.
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