“Thank you for teaching me so much” : Emmanuel Macron greeted with emotion on Wednesday the “Exceptional course” d’Angela Merkel by giving him, to Vougeot (Côte-d’Or) the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, the highest rank.
A very sober ceremony took place at the Château du Clos de Vougeot, near Beaune, where the farewell visit was organized by the Chancellor who is completing her mandate as head of theGermany after 16 years of power.
“Thank you for accepting this impetuous young president who wanted to shake up everything”, “Thank you for this patience and this indulgence towards me”, Emmanuel Macron told him again, in a brief speech which gave the ceremony a more personal turn.
“You accepted this energy, maybe sometimes this insolence with a lot of benevolence and wisdom and from that I learned”, he continued.
An allusion to the few disputes that arose between them, when the Chancellor, who worked with four French presidents, reproached him for too brutal remarks, for example when the French had judged NATO in “Brain dead state”.
“Together we have shaken up a lot of things and done a lot for Europe, before the crisis and after the crisis”, he added.
“Since you have been Chancellor, France has learned to know and love you”, “During all these years, you have helped to keep Europe united despite all the shocks”, “It is a magnificent European destiny”, he concluded.
The ceremony ended with an emotional hug between the two leaders, who hugged each other. They were then to have dinner at the castle, with their respective husbands and wives.
The Chancellor, who will leave politics after the constitution of a new German government expected in December, had two hours earlier been greeted by the French president in the historic center of Beaune, where a small crowd gave her an enthusiastic welcome, to the cries of « Angela » Where “Mum” (“Mom”), the affectionate nickname given to her by the Germans.
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