King Charles III travels to Germany on Wednesday for his first foreign state visit since becoming British monarch, as part of efforts to turn the page after years of difficult relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union following Brexit. .
Charles, who succeeded his mother Queen Elizabeth as British monarch in September, was scheduled to travel to France first but canceled that part of the tour a few days ago due to violent social unrest over President Emmanuel's new pension law. Macron.
During his three-day visit to the German capital Berlin, the eastern state of Brandenburg and the port city of Hamburg, Charles III will address issues facing both countries, such as sustainability and the Ukraine crisis, as well as commemorating the past , as reported by Buckingham Palace.
On Wednesday morning, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will receive Charles III and his wife, Queen Camilla, with military honors at the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of the country's division during the Cold War and its aftermath. reunification.
Steinmeier, said it was an important "European gesture" that Charles had chosen France and Germany for his first state visit, even before his coronation in May. "To him and obviously to all Brits, I want to say that we in Germany, in Europe, want close and friendly relations with the UK even after Brexit," he said in a video message before the trip.
The royal couple will later be guests of honor at a state banquet at the presidential palace, Schloss Bellevue.
On Thursday in Berlin, Carlos will address the lower house of the German parliament, the Bundestag, which he last addressed in 2020 as Prince of Wales, and meet with some of the more than a million Ukrainians who have taken refuge. of the war in Germany.
Later that day, he will meet representatives of a joint German-British military unit in Brandenburg for a demonstration of their amphibious vehicles used for bridge construction.
On Friday, he will visit a church in Hamburg that was destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II and meet with representatives of companies implementing green technology in the port.
Steinmeier said he had extended an invitation to Charles III, who has traveled to Germany more than 40 times, to his mother's funeral last September. The British government, however, is the one that makes the final decisions on such state visits, which are part of its use of the "soft power" of the monarchy.
As such, this trip is a clear sign of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's drive to restore relations with Europe, says Anand Menon, director of UK in a Changing Europe academic think tank.
However, any warmer relationship with Europe sparked by the visit could quickly cool if other post-Brexit issues erupt. French President Emmanuel Macron has suggested that Charles III's visit to France could be rescheduled for this summer.
