France and Germany to set up the Munt Security Council

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France and Germany will establish a joint security council as part of the augmented approach to Europe in its own defense, said President Emmanuel Macron as he welcomed Friedrich Merz to the first state visit to the new chancellor abroad.

Gathering at the Palau d’Elysée on Wednesday, the two leaders pledged to strengthen co-operation in the face of rise in Russia threats and unpredictable American administration under President Donald Trump. Merz, who took office on Tuesday, has made a point to go to Paris first to resuscitate cooperation between the largest EU countries.

“Beyond the tanks, the combat planes and the long-range missiles, we will establish a Franco-German security and defense council that will meet regularly to provide operational solutions to our common strategic challenges,” Macron said, “the systematic threat that Russia raises in our European system.” He also cited sovereignty and competitiveness as focus areas between the two nations.

Merz greeted the “deep affection” between France and Germany and said that his visit was an “expression of the personal links that Emmanuel Macron and I have been able to forge in recent years”.

The French President has already met Merz several times in recent months to discuss urgent issues such as the Trump’s fare war and his efforts to resolve Ukraine’s fate with Russia.

Merz called on all European Member States to “increase their expense in defense to fill the lagoons of military capacity and continue to fully support Ukraine.”

The Chancellor, who previously warned in Europe no longer has the US To defend it, he said that the war in Ukraine “will not end without another political and military commitment in the United States of America. Europeans cannot replace -the one.”

The two leaders also said that any discussion of the expansion of the nuclear umbrella of France in other European countries would only have the goal of complementing the United States NATO security for the existing NATO security guarantees.

“We consider that we, Europeans, have to organize -but it is not about questioning historical alliances,” said Macron.

Paris officials hope that Merz’s arrival as Chancellor will inject new energy into EU projects, including hedge Initiatives and promoting the competitiveness of the euro zone. The personal styles of the two leaders, as well as the political opinions, are more closely aligned than with the ex -canancell Olaf Scholz, with whom relations were not “fluid”, said a French official.

“This is a good opportunity for both France and Germany and to Europe more widely for more impetus behind key priorities,” said Benjamin Haddad, Minister of Europe of France. “The new (German) government has strong ambitions for Europe to be more independent of defense and security, and we have also shared goals in competitiveness and immigration. Macron and Merz want to go very quickly.”

Merz’s allies share the vision Scholz did not invest enough time and effort in Paris and beyond Europe.

“It was not just France,” said David Mcallister, a senior cdu mep. Scholz, a Social Democrat, met well with political allies, including Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, but did not manage to establish close relationships with his Polish conservative and his Italian counterparts Donald Tusk and Giorgia Meloni. Merz traveled to find tusk later on Wednesday, followed by a visit to Brussels on Friday.

“Macron makes great speeches, because he has a vision of the future of Europe. Olaf Scholz had no great speech, not an ambitious vision, not even a convincing idea as it might seem the future of European integration,” said Mcallister. “For a successful Europe, we need French enthusiasm and committed German pragmatism.”

The difficult topics that have graduated from the Franco-German relationship in recent years include trade: Germany supports the Treaty of Mercosur with Latin America, while France has opposed it and energy, where they have faced whether the French nuclear energy should be considered under carbon under the green regulations of the EU.

“All this will not be resolved during a visit, but the positive with Merz is that the habit of resorting to Franco-German cooperation has returned,” said a French official. “The goal is to eliminate the agreements where we can and where we cannot, then we contain our differences so that Franco-German collaboration can still work.”