Emmanuel Macron continues his trip to Germany by heading East to talk about Europe

He raised the issue upon his arrival on Sunday. Emmanuel Macron is on a three-day state visit to Germany. An opportunity to speak from the east of the country with a message to young people for a greater Europe, less than two weeks before the European elections. Democracy is in “crisis,” shaken by the “rise” of extremes and the “infatuation with authoritarianism,” he said on arrival, urging people to go to the polls to “defend” it.

Thus, he continues his campaign in the European elections in Germany, while his camp’s list lags far behind that of the National Rally (RN, far right) in voting intentions on June 9th. “We feel that we cannot rest on our laurels, but must protect what is dear to us,” added German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during a joint press conference.

On Monday morning, Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, accompanied by the German presidential couple, will visit the impressive Holocaust memorial in the center of the German capital. A significant moment for reflection at a time when anti-Semitism is returning to Europe, fueled by hostility to the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to the Islamist group Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

Emmanuel Macron will also grace Frenchman Serge Klarsfeld and his German wife Beate, who hunted down Nazis who went unpunished after the war and contributed to the memory of the Shoah. Today they are controversial for their stance in favor of Marine Le Pen’s party, whose commitment to fighting anti-Semitism they welcome after a long struggle with her father Jean-Marie Le Pen’s creation of the National Front, founded by supporters of the collaborationist Vichy. mode.

In Dresden we’ll talk about economics and competitiveness

Emmanuel Macron will then travel to Dresden (east), the capital of the regional state of Saxony, where he will give a late evening speech in front of the Notre-Dame Church (Frauenkirche), a symbol of 20th-century torment. .

The building, destroyed in February 1945 by US-British bombing, remained in ruins during the communist regime of the GDR and was restored after German reunification in 1990. The city of Dresden is also a symbol of the economic revival of this part of East Germany today. known under the flattering name “Silicon Saxony”.

But the former GDR is also the territory of conquest of the far-right AfD (Alternative for Germany) party, which relies on fears of devaluation and fear of foreigners in these regions long cut off from the West.

Emmanuel Macron, the first French president to visit East Germany since Francois Mitterrand in 1989, will address young Germans as well as representatives from neighboring countries, Czechs and Poles.

The prize is awarded for “European commitment”

“East Germany is at the same time the center of Europe, a Europe that, 20 years after the EU’s eastward enlargement, is increasingly marked by the experience of being “European,” President Steinmeier emphasized. That is, “the hopes and, at the latest after Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine, the fears of this region,” he noted, welcoming his colleague’s choice to go there.

The two presidents will also meet in Dresden on ways to make Europe more competitive vis-à-vis China and the United States, especially in terms of artificial intelligence.

On Tuesday, the head of state will receive the Westphalian International Peace Prize in Munster (in the west) for his “European commitment” before meeting Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Meseberg, near Berlin, at the Franco-French German Council of Ministers. The two will once again try to end their differences over support for Ukraine, the future of Europe and support the Franco-German couple who remain the driving force of the EU. “This couple is one, they are neither old nor young, they are lively, demanding, ambitious for our two countries, ambitious for our Europe,” Emmanuel Macron assured.