Köppel on Steinmeier's visit Criticizes Paris ceremonies

Oct 8

Köppel reports Steinmeier's Paris visit in what is described as very difficult times and argues that politicians helped cause those difficulties. He says the federal president should reconcile a divided Germany, accuses him of disparaging opposition voters and argues that a president who divides the nation instead should step down. He criticizes seeking foreign ceremonial praise instead of building domestic bridges, compares state-banquet ceremony to Versailles decadence and praises German voters' patience. The complete concluding analogy also praises Putin's alleged eight years of patience over Donbas and invokes a hypothetical foreign military alliance in Mexico or Canada. Those assertions and the conditional call to step down remain Köppel's opinions; the passage reports no actual resignation, new Ukraine decision or diplomatic agreement.

Steinmeier visits Paris during his October 2026 state visit to France. Weltwoche's October 9 account critically assesses the visit's purpose and ceremonies: Köppel argues that the president should reconcile domestic political divisions rather than seek ceremonial praise abroad, and that a president who divides the nation should step down. His accusations of divisiveness, conditional resignation demand and Versailles comparison are political judgments, not an actual resignation or an agreement announced during the visit.