German Chancellor Schultz’s first visit: a trip to France to explore the way to consolidate cooperation

　　(International Observation) German Chancellor Schultz's first visit: a trip to France to explore the way to consolidate cooperation

　　China News Service, Paris, December 10th, title: German Chancellor Schultz’s first visit: a trip to France to explore the way to consolidate cooperation

　　China News Agency reporter Li Yang

　　The new German Chancellor Olaf Schultz started his first visit after taking office on the 10th local time. The first stop was Paris, France.

He met with French President Macron to seek to consolidate and deepen the cooperative relationship between the two countries.

　　Schultz visited Paris only two days after taking office as German Chancellor. It can be seen that the French and German high-level officials have made necessary contacts and communications beforehand and are ready for the visit.

Macron called the visiting German Chancellor as "Dear Olaf". He expressed the hope that France and Germany can work together to continue cooperation with Schultz’s predecessor Merkel on relevant issues and continue to maintain firm belief in the EU. .

　　Scholtz's visit came at the right time for France.

France will assume the rotating presidency of the European Union on January 1 next year for a period of six months.

Macron has already stated the goal of France as the rotating presidency of the European Union-to allow the European Union to have full sovereignty, independent decision-making and control of its own destiny, and to make Europe stronger.

Some analysts believe that if it gains strong support from Germany, France will be expected to achieve more results when it holds the rotating EU presidency.

　　Schultz's visit showed the continuity of Germany's foreign policy towards France and Europe.

At the press conference after the meeting with Macron, he emphasized the importance of German-French cooperation, and said that he and Macron talked about how to strengthen the sovereignty of the European Union, which is in line with France's proposition; he also said that he has assumed the rotating presidency of the European Union with France. Constructive consultations on relevant issues in the country.

　　One of the most important international issues that the leaders of France and Germany are concerned about is the situation in Ukraine, and the two sides have also expressed their common position on this issue.

The situation on the Uzbek-Russian border has continued to be tense recently, which has aroused the attention of France and Germany.

Both Macron and Scholtz expressed their support for the "Normandy model" four-party talks should continue to ease tensions.

The "Normandy Model" participating parties include France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.

　　On the issue of fighting the new crown epidemic, Macron and Schultz have a positive attitude towards relevant cooperation.

Macron said that since the outbreak, France and Germany have cooperated very well in the fight against the epidemic. France and Germany have also maintained close consultations on issues related to residents on the French-German border.

Schultz also expressed the need to strengthen anti-epidemic cooperation and further explore the issue of border movement at the EU level.

　　The epidemics in France and Germany have shown a rapid rebound trend recently. The cumulative number of confirmed cases of the new crown in France has reached 8.1 million, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Germany has also reached 6.43 million. The epidemic situation in eastern France near Germany is getting worse.

The cooperation between the two sides on the fight against the epidemic is expected to deepen in the future.

　　Important issues that require continued discussions between France and Germany include economic issues such as budget deficits.

Macron previously stated that the EU should reconsider its strict budget deficit rules, mainly because governments still have to deal with the economic shock caused by the new crown epidemic.

Macron will seek German support for France's budget deficit rule reform plan.

However, Schultz is still cautious about this issue.

Scholtz served as Minister of Finance of Merkel's government, and Germany has long tended to support strict EU budget deficit rules.

　　France and Germany are not without differences.

There are obvious differences between the two countries on the development of nuclear energy and other energy and environmental issues.

German Foreign Minister Belle Burke has expressed his opposition to France's listing of nuclear energy as a green energy source.

She also made it clear that the two countries hold different positions on the issue of nuclear energy.

Schultz did not directly respond to related issues, only that each country is seeking its own strategy to deal with climate change, and Germany has decided to rely on the development of renewable energy.

　　The EU will hold a meeting next week on issues such as the situation in Ukraine.

Schultz's visit to France has coordinated with France on many important issues, which is conducive to further coordination and consensus between the two sides at the EU level.

It remains to be seen whether the leaders of France and Germany can continue to cooperate closely in the future to jointly promote the EU's consensus on major issues and move forward.

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