Observing social distancing norms in time of the coronavirus pandemic, French President Emmanuel Macron greeted German Chancellor Angela Merkel with a traditional Indian ‘namaste’.
The leaders met to discuss issues concerning Europe and coronavirus relief measures in Fort de Bregancon, Macron’s holiday retreat in southern France. Right after this, French First Lady Brigitte Macron, too, greeted Merkel with folded hands. The leaders then donned masks and set off to discuss important issues regarding the European Union.
US President Donald Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are among world leaders who have chosen a ‘namaste’ over the usual handshake to avoid infection. Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, too, adopted namaste as a form of greeting during the pandemic.
The meeting comes at a crucial time, at the backdrop of the coronavirus crisis, anti-government protests in Belarus following the re-election of Alexander Lukashenko, Lebanon port blasts and alleged poisoning of Vladimir Putin critic and political prisoner Alexander Navalny.
As per a Reuters report, the leaders discussed Sino-European relations post COVID-19 and Britain's exit from the European Union.
Macron, during the meeting, warned Moscow against any aggressive intervention in its neighbour's (Belarus’) affairs. Merkel noted that despite the protest bringing hundreds and thousands of people on to the streets, Alexander Lukashenko hasn’t sought to speak to any of the EU leaders.
Protesters reject the president's victory in an August 9 vote. Opponents feel the election was rigged, fuelling a huge political crisis, perhaps the biggest since the break-up of the Soviet Union. The leaders also touched upon cooperation in EU to offset economic losses caused by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
The meeting was hailed by France as a “testimony to the exceptional level of Franco-German engagement on the bilateral, European, and international level.”
