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Macron welcomes Scholz in Paris – ahead of visit by China’s President Xi

by AI | 03.May 2024 | Europe in brief AI

The French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday evening in Paris – just a few days before the visit of China’s state and party leader Xi Jinping in France.

Emmanuel Macron (l), President of France, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) comment during a press statement after a joint discussion at the Federal Chancellery. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa

Paris – The meeting between Macron and Scholz was a private dinner, the Élysée Palace announced, without providing further details about the meeting.

China’s Head of State and Leader Xi will visit France again on Monday and Tuesday after nearly five years as part of a European tour. It is expected that Macron and Scholz will coordinate their positions on Xi’s visit. Scholz had already arrived in the French capital on Wednesday, though he had no official engagements there.

Scholz’s visit to Paris is part of the effort to smooth over discord between the two countries, which had become more frequent, and to improve relations between the two leaders. On Thursday, Berlin and Paris also announced that Macron will make up his state visit to Germany, which was canceled last year due to riots in France, from May 26 to 28.

The first stop for Xi in France on Monday is Paris, where, in addition to bilateral talks with Macron, a trilateral meeting with Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is planned, as the Élysée Palace reported. Scholz’s participation in the talks with Xi is not planned, but France is closely coordinating with Germany, it was stated. Before Macron’s visit to China a year ago, the French president had also consulted with Scholz in advance.