Macron to head for state visit to Germany with China and energy in the spotlight

French President Emmanuel Macron will make his first state visit to Germany in July amid tensions on issues ranging from energy policy to China.

Macron, invited by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will stay between 2 and 4 July in the first state visit by a French president in 23 years.

"The visit will honour the close friendship of the two countries in the 60th year of the Elysee Treaty on bilateral relations," said Steinmeier's office.

Macron will visit several regions of Germany with Steinmeier to underline the ties between the nations.

 "This special event marks the beginning of a new chapter in the decades-old friendship of the two countries as well as the close personal ties between Steinmeier and Macron," added Steinmeier's office.

The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, will travel to Paris this week to prepare the visit.

She will meet her French counterpart Catherine Colonna on Tuesday and join a cabinet meeting at the Elysée Palace on Wednesday.

EU summit

Colonna is expected in Berlin on Thursday for talks with Baerbock as well as the foreign ministers of Jordan and Egypt on the situation in the Middle East.

Macron will also head to Germany. He will meet the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on 6 June just before the conference for a new global financial pact and a European Union summit in June and a NATO summit in July.

The flurry of events comes amid friction on a range of issues. Germany's phase-out of nuclear power as France pursues new construction of reactors has proved contentious as have a reform of the EU's stability and growth pact.

Macron also sparked controversy last month after a visit to China.

The French leader said that Europe should not be a follower of either Washington or Beijing, or become enmeshed in any escalation over the future of Taiwan.

Built on trust

The German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, branded Macron's remarks unfortunate. "We have never been in danger of becoming or being a vassal of the United States," he added.

Beijing said on Monday that the Chinese Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, would visit Germany, France and Norway this week, as China pushes to act as a mediator in the Ukraine conflict.

 On Monday, German foreign ministry spokesman Christofer Burger denied a major rift between Paris and Berlin over China.

He said that the two capitals coordinated on policy more than with hardly any other partner.

Asked about the differences between the two countries, Scholz's spokesman insisted that ties were friendly and built on trust.

"It's like in a good marriage," said the spokesman. "You can always give it fresh impetus so that it remains good. And that's the case in the German-Franco relationship."