President Iohannis to participate in French-German cooperation,integration treaty signing ceremony in Aachen and meet Romanian servicemen

President Klaus Iohannis will participate in Aachen, Germany, on Tuesday, in the signing ceremony of the French-German cooperation and integration treaty, at the invitation of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron according to Agerpres.

According to the Presidential Administration, on the sidelines of his visit to Germany, the head of state will also carry out a meeting with the Romanian servicemen who are deployed ar the NATO military base in Geilenkirchen.

According to the Presidential Administration, the treaty signing ceremony by the French President and German Chancellor will take place in the Crowning Hall of the Aachen City Hall. This moment will be preceded by the speeches delivered by Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia land Armin Laschet, Mayor of Aachen city Marcel Philipp, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. After the signing of the document, President Klaus Iohannis, who represents Romania as Presidency at the Council of the European Union, will deliver a speech, as well as European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

The idea of concluding a new French-German cooperation treaty was mentioned by President Emmanuel Macron in his speech in Sorbonne called "Initiative for Europe" of September 2017. Subsequently, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron announced the conclusion of the future cooperation instrument through a Joint Declaration adopted on 22 January 2018, 55 years after the signing of the Elysee Treaty by President Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, a document that formalised and institutionalised the post-war Franco-German reconciliation.

The bilateral treaty of Aachen has as political and legal grounds the French-German Treaty of Elysee, of 1963, which set the foundation of the historic reconciliation between France and Germany, and will aim at adapting the relations between the two states to the 21st century challenges, focusing on enhancing the cohesion of the action of the two states on a European level.