PARIS. Cancellation of the annual joint meeting French and German cabinetsscheduled for next week is another indication of the divergence of Franco-German interests during the current crisis.

Problems in bilateral relations occupied the French finance minister yesterday Bruno Le Mer, who argued that a “reboot” and re-tightening of the relationship was needed. Le Maire, a politician with close ties to the German political scene and fluent in German, offered the following diagnosis: the firstthe war in Ukraine has brought Berlin closer to Washington, and Paris is supporting the emancipation of Europe.

Secondlygas cuts have cast doubt on Germany’s energy model, while France is still betting on nuclear power. thirdGermany is struggling to adjust to deteriorating trade relations with China, which has long been the El Dorado of German industry.

Ukraine, China, energy

“The issues of Ukraine, energy and China should lead us to a strategic review of relations between France and Germany,” Le Maire told an audience of businessmen. “Rebooting on some issues will create a new, possibly stronger relationship.”

analysts at the Eurointelligence Institute to characterize the chill in Franco-German relations as “the greatest political event in continental Europe to date”. “We have always been puzzled by France’s seemingly boundless tolerance for German unilateral action, for example during the euro crisis,” they write. “Angela Merkel maintained relations through appropriate diplomatic manoeuvres. But diplomacy is not Olaf Soltz’s forte. Scholz negotiates with other parties in the ruling coalition and then presents Germany’s position to the Europeans.” Analysts said the cancellation of the joint Franco-German meeting, which was to be held at the Fontainebleau Palace, was due to Olaf Soltz’s announcement that Europe would acquire the Arrow 3 missile defense system from Israel, in which France does not participate. involvement, which angered French President Macron.

As the French newspaper Le Mont noted, in his speech in Prague, Olaf Soltz did not in the least mention joint Franco-German defense plans.