French President Emmanuel Macron has canceled his official visit to Germany due to rising instability in the country, which has resulted in riots, looting, and burning. Macron approached the German presidency and requested that the ‘scheduled visit’ be postponed.
“French President Macron spoke today by telephone with German President (Frank-Walter) Steinmeier and informed him of the situation in his country,” a presidency statement said. “President Macron asked for a postponement of his planned state visit to Germany.”
On the invitation of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the state visit was set to commence on Sunday (July 2). The visit was to be the first by a French president in 23 years. According to Steinmeier’s office, the objective of the visit is to “honor the close friendship of the two countries in the 60th year of the Elysée Treaty” on bilateral relations.
What is going on in France?
France has devolved into anarchy as protests erupted after a teen’s tragic gunshot and grew into countrywide riots. Violent protestors, primarily young people, battled with police and looted luxury boutiques, placing President Macron under even more strain. As a result of the situation, French footballer Kylian Mbappe issued a statement criticizing the violence and asking demonstrators to remain peaceful.
“Violence solves nothing, even less when it inevitably and tirelessly turns against those who express it, their families, loved ones, and neighbors,” Mbappe said.
“It is your property that you are destroying, your neighborhoods, your council estates, your places of fulfillment and proximity,” he wrote on Twitter. “The time of violence must end to make way for mourning, dialogue, and reconstruction.”