French President Emmanuel Macron will visit his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin on Sunday in what is seen as the highest level of diplomatic courtesy gestures.
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00:00 French President Emmanuel Macron will make a state visit to Germany this Sunday,
00:04 the first trip of its kind for a French president in 24 years.
00:09 And although Macron visits Berlin regularly to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz,
00:15 a state visit can only be extended by Germany's head of state,
00:19 who is the president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
00:22 The goal of this visit is to strengthen the bond of the Franco-German relations.
00:28 This visit is a crucial moment for the Franco-German couple,
00:32 but also for Europe, two weeks before the European elections.
00:35 The idea is to find points of convergence between France and Germany
00:42 on issues of the future, such as technology, innovation and artificial intelligence.
00:49 And during the state visit, there will be other very important issues, such as democracy.
00:53 The two presidents are going to celebrate the 75 years of the German constitution.
00:59 The state visit will be followed by a Franco-German council of ministers alongside Chancellor Scholz.
01:04 And it's a state visit that's seen in quite a positive light by some of the Berliners that we talked to.
01:09 I am very much in favor of Macron. I like him very much. I like his policy.
01:16 The only thing I don't want is that he sends ground troops to defend the air superiority in Ukraine.
01:28 We should end this stupid war.
01:31 I think it's great if it's a state visit to promote the strengthening of Europe.
01:37 Emmanuel Macron originally planned to visit Germany in July last year,
01:41 but then had to cancel last minute due to riots in France.
01:46 The visit comes at a tense time for both European countries,
01:50 with polls suggesting that Eurosceptic parties could make significant gains in the upcoming EU elections.
01:56 Both countries will be focused at presenting a united European front during the visit.
02:03 Liv Stroud in Berlin for Euronews.
02:06 [SWOOSH]