Franco-German friendship, celebrated with great fanfare for the 60th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty. This cooperation agreement which sealed what is called the Franco-German couple or engine. Its principle: to set up regular consultations between the two countries in the field of Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Education to put an end to a century of diplomatic and warlike rivalries. 60 years later, what about the peoples? Do French and Germans know each other and do they understand each other better? It is the European eye of Franceline Beretti.
One of the great successes of the Elysée Treaty is undoubtedly… the creation of the Franco-German Office for Youth. In 60 years, and thanks to this organization, nearly ten million young French and Germans have taken part in exchanges between the two countries. The Ofaj has also served as a model for bringing together young people from countries with a common past of conflict, such as between Germany and Poland, for example. But one of the ambitions of the Franco-German treaty remains a failure: that of developing the learning of the neighboring language. In both countries, it is declining. And it’s not without problems, as our correspondent has seen. Wyloen Munoz-Boilot in Strasbourg. She went to a Franco-German law firm that is struggling to recruit German speakers.
“The center of Europe will shift to the East”. These words of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pronounced in Prague, in August 2022, caused a lot of ink to flow in France; raising fears that Germany will abandon its French partner in favor of eastern neighbors such as Poland. But in reality, the relationship that Berlin has with Warsaw is not simple. The diplomatic arm wrestling around the green light granted by Germany so that Poland could send these German-made tanks to Ukraine showed it well. Since the return of the conservative national Law and Justice party to power in 2015, relations with Germany have been complicated, Martin Chabal.
He is the favorite French humorist of the Germans. However, nothing predisposed Emmanuel Peterfalvi, who arrived at the age of 24, in 1991, in Hamburg to this success in his adopted country. In the meantime, the Parisian has taken German nationality and advocates friendship between the two nations. His portrait by Pascal Thibault.