The core of Europe is in danger of drifting apart: there is now deep distrust between the once closely connected neighbors Berlin and Paris. This is reflected, among other things, in diplomatic upheavals. After the cabinets, the parliamentarians of both countries also cancel a meeting.
A joint meeting of the parliamentary presidencies from Germany, France and Poland planned for Sunday and Monday has been cancelled. Bundestag President Bärbel Bas justified the cancellation with scheduling problems on the French side: Because of important votes on the budget, the French parliamentary speaker could not travel to the meeting in Augsburg on Monday. It was reported from Paris that the French side had offered to participate via video link – but this had been rejected by the German hosts.
The Presidium of the French National Assembly told AFP that the Bundestag had been offered the participation of a French parliamentary delegation led by the Deputy Speaker. However, the German side preferred to postpone the meeting of the parliamentary presidencies.
The meeting of the three parliamentary presidencies should have taken place within the framework of the Weimar Triangle, which includes Germany, France and Poland. According to the Bundestag, the agenda included topics such as the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, disinformation campaigns by foreign powers and gender equality in parliaments.
In the past few days, signs of upset in Franco-German relations had increased. A joint meeting of both cabinets planned for next Wednesday was canceled at short notice. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit also cited substantive differences as the reason for the postponement: There are “a whole range of different issues” on which the two governments are “not yet ready to come to a unified position,” he said .
Hebestreit did not say specifically which topics are currently still hooked. The federal government is currently “in close coordination with the French side on some bilateral issues,” he said. “These votes will take some time, so both sides thought it would make sense to postpone this appointment now.” The decision was made together with the French side.
