A photographer managed to capture that briefest of moments, heavy with historic symbolism, when Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy held hands during the November 11 armistice commemorations in Paris. The German chancellor and the French president got on famously, and wanted everybody to know it.
It would be easy for a cynical reporter to belittle the ostentatious display of the Franco-German friendship. We all know the bilateral relationship has been poisonous for the last two and a half years, so why should we be impressed?
I believe the symbolism matters a great deal. It might even mark a new period of co-operation between the two countries. No, I am not forecasting a return to the times of Helmut Kohl and François Mitterrand. But a rational analysis of both leaders’ political options can come to no other conclusion than it is in their mutual interest to adopt, not necessarily an entente cordiale, but an entente stratégique , for three main reasons.
The first, and most important, is a desperate leadership vacuum elsewhere in Europe. Look at the European political landscape from the perspectives of Paris or Berlin. The European Commission has long ceased to provide effective leadership. Whoever is nominated as the first president of the European Council under the Lisbon treaty is likely to be someone with less visibility than either Mr Sarkozy or Ms Merkel.
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