The leaders of France and Germany signed a new treaty on Tuesday January 22 to update their 1963 post-war reconciliation accord, aiming to reinvigorate the European Union’s main axis as growing eurosceptic nationalism tests the bloc’s cohesion.
At a warm ceremony in the German border city of Aachen, a historical symbol of European concord, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron sought to show they are ready to give fresh leadership to the troubled EU project.
Merkel underlined that she signed the treaty in the name of the German government to commit to it “with full strength and full-heartedly.” She added that the treaty should be understood as an ‘enrichment for our cultures”.
