Prior to traveling to eastern Germany to address concerns about the emergence of the extreme right ahead of EU elections, French President Emmanuel Macron paid a visit to the Holocaust memorial in Berlin on Monday.
As he landed on Sunday, Macron, who is making his first state visit to Germany as president of France in 25 years, urged people to defend democracy against forces of nationalism.
He is anticipated to deliver the identical message to Saxony State’s eastern city of Dresden, which serves as the far-right AfD party’s base.
Macron’s trip comes two weeks ahead of European Union elections in whichpolls are indicating a major potential embarrassment for the French leader,with his centrist coalition trailing behind the far right.
It could even struggle to reach a third-place finish.
In Germany too, all three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition arepolling behind the far-right AfD in surveys, despite a series of scandalsembroiling the anti-immigration party.
On Monday morning, Macron and his wife Brigitte, along with the Germanpresidential couple, paid a visit to the memorial in central Berlin thatcommemorates the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis.
Accompanying them was Nazi hunter Serge Klarsfeld and his German wife Beate,who underlined a resurgence of anti-Semitism, fuelled by Israel’s offensivein Gaza following Hamas’s attack on its territory.
“It’s very good that the French president is meeting the German presidentbefore this monument, especially at a tragic time for the global Jewishcommunity,” said Klarsfeld.
But the Klarsfelds too have faced controversy lately over their comments infavour of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, whom they welcome for herengagement against anti-Semitism as opposed to her father Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Macron had on Sunday labelled Le Pen’s National Rally a “threat to Europe”,stressing that he does not see them as “just another party”.
