G7 summit 2022 in Elmau: Macron secretly steals away with his wife - police "baffled"

Created: 2022-06-27Updated: 2022-06-27, 3:35 p.m

French President Emmanuel Macron with his wife Brigitte Macron on their way to the opening ceremony of the 2022 G7 summit in Elmau.

© BENOIT TESSIER / POOL / AFP

The area around Schloss Elmau is subject to high security measures.

The French President took advantage of this for a nocturnal excursion - the police apparently knew nothing about it.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen – The journalist Christian Sievers can look back on a career spanning more than 20 years, and the moderator is rarely speechless.

As part of his reporting from the G7 summit in 2022 in Elmau, however, one observation made him "baffled": In the cordoned off area, a well-known couple ran nonchalantly towards him on a mountain road on Sunday evening.

G7 summit 2022 in Elmau: French President Emmanuel Macron enjoys the Bavarian mountain air

Schloss Elmau is located in the midst of a Bavarian post-Carinthian idyll.

Green forests, lush meadows and fresh mountain air attract numerous hikers - at least when the valley is not sealed off for the G7 summit.

At the meeting of the group of seven, the idyll is not unimportant, but rather secondary.

Safety aspects are more important.

The Elmauer Tal lies secluded at around 1000 meters above sea level and can be closed off with just one toll road.

Because otherwise only hiking trails lead into the valley, which are relatively easy to control.

Of the total costs of the summit of around 160 million euros, 150 million alone flow into the police presence, around 18,000 officers are deployed - on land and in the air.

The G7 participants can therefore feel very safe around Schloss Elmau.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte took this opportunity on Sunday evening and went for a walk all alone - apparently without telling anyone.

"And then a couple comes towards us on the mountain road near Schloss Elmau - hand in hand they appear alone out of the darkness and say a friendly hello: 'Bonsoir!'", describes the journalist Sievers the scene.

Neither journalists nor the police seem to have been informed about the nocturnal excursion: "Police just as baffled as we are: Emmanuel Macron enjoys Bavaria's mountain air," adds the moderator.

G7 summit 2022 in Elmau: Macron reveals the reason for his nocturnal excursion

G7 summit 2022 in Elmau: Pictures of the most powerful politicians in the world in front of a spectacular mountain backdrop

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The moderator Sievers was apparently also present when the French President and First Lady of France returned to the hotel.

It was already after 11 p.m. when Sievers wrote: "... they're just coming back to the hotel." Emmanuel Macron also had a reason for escaping at such a late hour: "I love going for a walk - and I love this area" , the President said accordingly.

Commentators under the post also want to recognize “savoir vivre” in the excursion: “This is how you see the difference,” writes a Twitter user.

“Germany: You live to work.

France: You work to live.” Another user wants to see parallels to Bill Clinton's escapes at a motorway service station in Switzerland on the way back from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Back in 2000, the presidential convoy with 30 cars stopped at the service area in Niederurnen in Glarnerland - the US president calmly ordered a piece of pizza and a diet coke, went to the toilet, spoke to employees and even gave autographs.

A memorable moment for the visitors of the rest area, a nightmare for the security forces of the then US President.