[Rockstar]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

Poor relations between France and Germany are slowing down key decisions in the EU including deals on defence in Ukraine and trade, an influential German MEP has claimed.

David McAllister, chair of the European parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a key figure in the opposition Christian Democrats party, says he is concerned that the lack of contact between the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is causing delays on key decisions on battle tanks and fighter jets, and a future trade deal with Latin America.

“At the moment we’re seeing a remarkable lack of internal coordination between Paris and Berlin. And that is not good,” said McAllister.

He said the Franco-German relationship, long considered the driving force of the EU, was not “everything in Europe” but that without cooperation between the two countries “things don’t work”.

“In the end, Paris and Berlin need to agree to smooth things … and this is where I criticise the German government. I don’t think we have seen such little cooperation between Paris and Berlin as we are witnessing at the moment,” he added.

France and Germany eh?. I laughed a bit when I read that thinking about the coups happening in Africa where French diplomats and soldiers are told to leave or else. Of course it gets blamed on Russia. But Germany and the U.S. still have a diplomatic and troop presence in those African states. I imagine there’s lots of mining rights and contracts to be signed, just need to get rid of the competition.