US President Joe Biden will receive his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on December 1 in Washington, for what will be a state visit, the White House spokeswoman announced on Monday (September 26). “This visit will testify to the depth and vigor of the relationship between the United States and France, our oldest ally.”said Karine Jean-Pierre.
Emmanuel Macron’s previous state visit to the United States took place in April 2018, when he met Donald Trump, the then President.
The first state visit under President Biden
State visits are celebrated with great fanfare and thus contrast with the bilateral meetings organized by American presidents for foreign leaders. None have taken place so far under the presidency of Joe Biden, which Karine Jean-Pierre attributed to the restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asked about the choice of France for this first under Joe Biden, the spokesperson replied that the American presidency attached “great importance to (its) relations with France”. The links are “based on shared democratic values, economic ties and defense and security cooperation”.
Relations between Paris and Washington suffered a major crisis last year when Australia abruptly announced that it was abandoning a contract to buy French conventional submarines in favor of a nuclear submarine deal. American attackers.