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‘France loves you’ – Macron hosts Merkel for farewell visit

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday hosted outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel for a valedictory visit as she bows out after 16 years in power, with the German leader cheered by crowds and awarded France's highest honour.

Macron and Merkel embrace, watched by Merkel's husband Joachim Sauer
Macron and Merkel embrace, watched by Merkel's husband Joachim Sauer Photo: Philippe Desmazes/AFP

In a gesture of thanks to Merkel for her contribution to Franco-German relations that has seen her deal with four presidents of France, Macron treated her to a visit to the French town of Beaune in the wine-growing Bourgogne region.

Accompanied by her low-profile husband Joachim Sauer, Merkel was given an eager welcome as she and Macron dived into the crowds and fist-bumped well-wishers shouting “Angela, Bravo!”.

“Frankreich liebt Dich” (France loves you), Macron tweeted in German as he welcomed her to the town ahead of a piano recital and gourmet dinner.

She also received from Macron the Grand Cross, the highest distinction of the Legion d’Honneur, France’s chief honour.

Her predecessors including Konrad Adenauer, Willy Brandt, Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schroeder have also received the honour.

Macron was the fourth French president Merkel has dealt with during her mandate, after Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande.

The pair are from contrasting generations, have different styles and sometimes even clashed behind the scenes on issues such as Berlin’s preference for budget austerity and Macron’s passion for a European defence strategy not dependent on the US.

But they are widely seen to have been generally effective partners, most notably jointly spearheading an unprecedented European Union rescue package to help economies weakened by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Merkel, who said she would not serve another term, is expected to leave office in the coming weeks, once a new coalition is agreed following elections won by the left-wing Social Democrats (SPD) over her own conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).

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EMMANUEL MACRON

Macron quips about cuddly ‘wedding’ pics with Lula

French President Emmanuel Macron has joined social media users in their jokes that likened his cosy pictures with Brazilian President Lula to those from a wedding album.

Macron quips about cuddly 'wedding' pics with Lula

Images of the pair smiling and warmly embracing during Macron’s three-day visit to Brazil circulated online this week alongside light-hearted captions and montages suggesting a loving relationship between the leaders.

“Some have compared the pictures of my visit to Brazil to those of a wedding,” Macron wrote Thursday on X.

“I tell them it was one. France loves Brazil and Brazil loves France,” he said.

Macron retweeted a picture of himself and Lula smiling during the visit, overlaid on the background of a poster for the romantic 2016 film La La Land.

Lula responded to Macron’s tweet, which was also shared in Portuguese, with emojis of the Brazil and France flags alongside two small love hearts.

One picture shared on social media this week showed the leaders raising their arms underneath a large tree in the Brazilian jungle was edited to show them holding red balloons in the shape of a heart.

“They are going to marry in the Amazon and have their honeymoon in Paris,” joked one user on X, while others said pictures from the trip could make up a wedding album.

Macron’s trip to Brazil saw the two leaders announce a billion-dollar green investment plan for the Amazon.

Lula hailed the relationship between the two countries as one that created “a bridge between the global South and the developed world.”

Macron’s warm relations with Lula mark a departure from the frosty ties between the French leader and Brazil’s former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, who led the country from 2019 to 2022.

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