The ongoing events in the Middle East overshadowed the meeting between the French and German governments in Hamburg.
Speaking to the media after the meetings had wrapped up, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany, France, Italy, the U.S. and the UK all had a concrete commitment to Israel's right to defend itself and they were working together to try and de-escalate the situation.
"Israel has the right to defend itself against these inhumane attacks and at the same time of course it is about avoiding a further regional escalation," he said. "We are in intense contact with many states of the region on this."
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Iran for celebrating the attack on Israel by Hamas. He said France was looking into the possibility that Tehran had more direct involvement in the events, which started early Saturday morning.
"We are in the process of analyzing information with our partners," he said. "I have no comment to make about the direct involvement of Iran, for which we have no formal proof, but it's clear that the public comments by Iranian authorities were unacceptable and do not correspond with our values or interests."
On the issue of aid to Palestinians, both leaders said that this should not be impacted by anti-terror operations. Scholz said that checks of German aid would be carried out to ensure no funding was going towards Hamas.
"It must be ensured that nothing that takes place supports any kind of structure which is connected to terrorism," he said. "We are sure that this is not the case but it's our duty to have a close look every time such events occur. Everyone commented accordingly."
It had been expected that the two would speak about some of the issues that Berlin and Paris are deadlocked on – such as joint defense projects that have so far cost a lot of money with zero in the way of final product, or the Franco-German stand-off over nuclear energy and its place in the EU's unified energy strategy.
France, which generates around 70 percent of its electricity through nuclear, is very keen to see nuclear power front and center. Germany, which shuttered the last of its nuclear power plants in April of this year, feels that including nuclear in the EU plans could give France an unfair advantage when it comes to attracting business, particularly the manufacturing businesses that Germany prides itself on, with the enticement of considerably lower electricity bills. There's no sign of a breakthrough on that issue, about which the EU energy ministers meet next Tuesday.
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There was agreement on the threat posed by the far right in both countries. Alternative For Germany (AFD) made big gains in state elections in Bavaria and Hesse at the weekend and is polling at 22.5 percent nationally, over five points more than Scholz’s Social Democrat Party.
Scholz says the rise of AFD shows that Europe needs a better, stronger, unified asylum policy to take the wind out of the sails of the anti-migrant rhetoric at the heart of a lot of the far-right message.
"It’s about defending democracy," said the chancellor on the need to fix asylum policy. The French president has also faced a far-right challenge from Marine Le Pen and her National Rally Party.
Scholz and Macron eat traditional fish roll sandwiches in Hamburg. /Fabian Bimmer/Pool/Reuters
Ultimately, the two leaders didn't say much on the big issues that divide the two big players in the EU. They did say that they liked the traditional Hamburg fish sandwiches that they were served; and they both agreed that the October weather in the Hanseatic city wasn’t the best for the harbor cruise both governments took.
They also both agreed that together, both nations can build a better Europe "that is more sovereign and stronger," according to Macron. Scholz backed him up, saying "If Germany and France are closer to each other, that is an important prerequisite for this."
Clearly, a Europe where France and Germany are both singing the same tune from the same song sheet is best for Europe as a whole. The problem seems to be in finding harmony on both sides of the river Rhine when it comes to major defense and infrastructure cooperation.
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