The King and Queen on state visit to France until Wednesday
The King and Queen are making a state visit to France from this Monday until Wednesday, which will take them to Paris, to meet President Emmanuel Macron, but also to Chantilly and Lille. The visit to the big neighbor, a long-standing “friendly” country, is a sort of response to the state visit that Emmanuel Macron made to Belgium in November 2018.
By Sudinfo with Belga
Published on 14/10/2024 at 07:37
The last state visit of a Belgian royal couple to France was more than 20 years ago. It was in 2003, with King Albert II, Queen Paola and President Jacques Chirac.
Historically, but also economically, the links are so strong that the relationship appears obvious. More than 170,000 French people are based in Belgium, while more than 150,000 Belgians are domiciled in France, where we have one of the most important consular posts. As for trade in goods, last year Belgium was France’s third “supplier” within the EU, and its second customer. Belgium exported to its southern neighbor for around 70.3 billion, or 13.5% of its total exports, while it imported for 52 billion.
King Philippe with Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée… finally!
The objective of the visit is to further deepen these relations, but also to place them in a European context. The two countries “share the wish to strengthen the European Union through a priority given to European sovereignty”, Foreign Affairs communicated on Sunday. Our bilateral military cooperation cannot be better illustrated than by the strategic Motorized Capacity (CaMo) partnership which, beyond the joint purchase of vehicles such as the Griffon or Jaguar, allows the rapid integration of a Belgian company into a French battalion and vice versa.
Industry and Defense, two major concerns of the Union in recent months, are also part of the key words of the program, with among other things a spotlight on Franco-Belgian military cooperation and the binational strategic partnership for the purchase vehicles intended for the army.
A state dinner is planned for Monday evening, the day when a meeting is also scheduled with the new Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Several political figures are taking part in the trip, including, for the state dinner, the Prime Minister of the Government for Current Affairs Alexander De Croo. The outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs Hadja Lahbib also participates in several activities of the program, as well as, among others, the minister-presidents of the federated entities.
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