Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to his “dear friend” former finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in German in a speech to lawmakers in Berlin.
Addressing mourners in the Bundestag on Monday, the French President impressed onlookers with his eulogy, which he delivered in competent German.
Macron, who does not speak German fluently but studied it at school, was able to quickly brush up on his skills with just a couple of hours of practice, according to his tutor.
Schaeuble, the country’s longest-serving lawmaker who helped negotiate German reunification, died in December at the age of 81.
Macron addressed German lawmakers on Monday to deliver a eulogy for his 'dear friend'GettyThe French President had been invited to speak at the German parliament to commemorate Schaeuble, who had been a staunch defender of the Franco-German relationship, which he saw as key to European peace.
The pair were in frequent contact with one another and Schaeuble had asked for Macron to speak as part of the mourning ceremony.
“Germany has lost a statesman. Europe has lost a pillar. France has lost a friend,” Macron said during his 15 minute speech.
He added: “The life of this great German, this great European, shows that he saw the changes of his country and the implementation of the European project as all part of one whole."
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Wolfgang Schaeuble helped negotiate German reunification
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He said the two countries’ relationship blossomed again after the war.
“The German-French friendship is the guarantor of that formula as the fundamental connector link of Europe,” he said, words that visibly moved Schaeuble's wife Ingeborg to tears.
The last time a French leader addressed a German audience in German was in 1962.
Macron’s German teacher Frank Groninger praised his student ability to quickly pick up the language: “We practiced for about an hour and a half yesterday and then again this morning for about an hour before the flight to Berlin. We then went again through some details of the speech on board the plane.”
Groninger told Politico that Macron had a basic understanding of German “so [they] only had to work on the finer details.”
Macron delivered his eulogy in competent German
Reuters
Schaeuble spent much of his career trying to re-unify Germany and later served under chancellor Anegla Merkel as her finance minister.
"Now an era after Wolfgang Schaeuble begins. Let us take on this legacy and be up to the task," Macron poignantly told onlookers in the Bundestag.
Groninger said it is now Scholz’ turn to show his commitment to the Franco-German relations. The pair have recently clashed over issues including China, Ukraine and energy funding.
Last week, Scholz stated that EU member states were not sending enough aid to Ukraine, in what appeared to be a jab at Macron, whose level of support lags far behind Berlin's.