Bernardo Valli on the leading Berlin-Paris duo and its history

Europe is being governed by Paris and Berlin in the crisis, writer Bernardo Valli comments and explains the historical background of the Franco-German axis in the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "History is the driving force behind the joint act presented by the odd couple Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy. The Franco-German axis was triumphantly born almost 50 years ago. On January 22, 1963, General Charles de Gaulle signed an agreement with German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in the Elysée palace's Murat Salon. The historical embrace between the 72-year-old former military officer, First World War prisoner and resistance hero of the Second World War and the 87-year-old Christian Democrat who constructed the democratic West Germany. The advocates of Europe remained unmoved by this fateful embrace, deeming it to be a bad move. That was a grave mistake. They failed to recognise the Elysée Treaty as a further token of friendship between two nations that had been enemies for a long time and as an important contribution to Europe's integration."

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