Celebrating Franco- German friendship France holds EU Council presidency until June
There was food and drink galore during the commemoration of the Franco- German Day at the Alliance Francaise compound in Gaborone last Friday
Sadly, the small community of Germans and French in the country missed out as they did not attend in droves, perhaps owing to the limitations imposed by the Covid- 19 pandemic.
The event, which traces its origin to the Elysée Treaty that was signed on January 22, 1963, by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer and marks the beginning of a long friendship between France and Germany, was graced by the ambassadors of the two countries – Laurence Beau and Margit Hellwigg- botte, including the host director, Angelique Saverino and her new Librarian, Lesego Keeng.
Adorned in German garb, Madame Beau spoke about the significance of the Franco- German Day and the treaty that birthed it as the symbol of peace in Europe and between “our two countries”.
She said the Elysée Treaty aims to create and promote exchanges, especially around culture and youth as well as a strong relationship between Germany and France after a long pe
riod of conflict. And 40 years after the signing of this treaty, French President Jacques Chirac and Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder declared January 22 as the official Franco- German day with an objective of arousing young people’s enthusiasm for the language and culture of one another, Beau said.
She said the day is also the occasion to celebrate the two ( 2) year anniversary of the Treaty on FrancoGerman Cooperation and Integration, which was signed on 22 January 2019 in Aachen by the President of the French Republic and the German Federal Chancellor, 56 years to the day after the Elysée Treaty, which marked France and Germany’s historic reconciliation
For her part, the German Ambassador, Her Excellency Margit Hellwiggbotte, also adorning in French attire, regaled the small receptive audience which included Kitso Kemoeng and officers of the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation, with reminisces of her experiences in France as a ‘ child of the Elysée’.
Margit Hellwigg- botte was only five years old when the Elysée Treaty was signed and benefited from it by studying French language and literature through the school exchange programme, and later working for the Franco- German Office of Youth.
Her Excellency Margit Hellwigg
botte said initially she had wanted to become a teacher but ended up a diplomat only to realise that even in diplomacy there is a standing procedure between France and Germany whereby the first person the German ambassador has to meet in the host country is the French ambassador and vice versa.
She donated 80 French books, which she described as a part of her life, to the Alliance Fraicsise library, a gift that Keeng, the librarian, would later express much gratitude for.
The French envoy Lawrence Beau revealed that France is currently holding the presidency of the EU Council for six months until the end of June, saying they would continue to strengthen the friendship with Germany even under that framework
Also gracing the event were the European Union Ambassador to Botswana and SADC, Jan Sadek, the Vice- Chancellor of the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources ( BUAN) Dr. Jasper Rees; Prof Gabriel Faimau, the director in the Office of research and Development at the University of Botswana, as well as Captain Kgomotso Phatsima, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Dare to Dream, the social enterprise that aims to advance young girls and women in science and engineering fields as well as aviation and aerospace.