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Paris-Berlin Relations Turn Sour

Tempers fraying in Merkel's camp after 2 high-level cancellations

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 27, 2008 10:08 AM CST
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(Newser) – Only a week after Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel called off a scheduled meeting, France and Germany's finance ministers canceled their own summit yesterday, reports AFP. While nobody wants to say that the leaders of Europe's two largest countries are getting testy with each other, disagreements over economic policy and the EU's role have led to markedly tense relations.

While predecessors Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder were chummy, Sarkozy and Merkel are not getting along. One major issue is Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union, the so-called "Club Med" that the excluded Germany says will divide Europe. The new alliance is set to launch in July, but Merkel has only been asked to attend an after-party. "Germany is only invited for dessert," said one observer.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, sits with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a Economic Summit in 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth,Pool)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, sits with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a Economic Summit in 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth,Pool)   (Associated Press)
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, shares a laugh with German Chancellor Angela Merkel while walking for a group photo outside Lisbon's 16th century Jeronimos Monastery, after signing the EU's Treaty of Lisbon Thursday, Dec. 13 2007. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, shares a laugh with German Chancellor Angela Merkel while walking for a group photo outside Lisbon's 16th century Jeronimos Monastery, after signing the EU's...   (Associated Press)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel react to a question of a reporter during their joint press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007.(AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel react to a question of a reporter during their joint press conference at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007.(AP...   (Associated Press)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007. (AP Photo / Michel Euler)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, gestures as he speaks during a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007. (AP Photo...   (Associated Press)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy answer questions during a joint press conference following the German-French ministers meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Nov. 12, 2007. The German and French leaders called Monday for Russia and China to help increase pressure on Iran over...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy answer questions during a joint press conference following the German-French ministers meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin,...   (Associated Press)
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Associated Press

World • Money

 
diplomacy • Angela Merkel • Germany • European Union • Nicolas Sarkozy • Jacques Chirac • France • foreign policy • Mediterranean Union • Gerhard Schröder

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