Less than 24 hours after taking office, Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Wednesday for two very different experiences on his first trip abroad in the new role.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with French President Emmanuel Macron. Merz made his first foreign trip as chancellor, and Macron published a video of the meeting on X. It is noted that Macron met Merz in the courtyard of the Élysée Palace in Paris with a “firm handshake and a heartfelt pat on the shoulder.

The French minister said that he expects the relationship between Paris and Berlin will be simpler under Merz than it was under his predecessor. In particular, France is looking f