Paris - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy used the occasion of Wednesday's Armistice Day commemorations in Paris to promote closer ties between their two countries. "We owe it to the people of Europe, to the people of the world, to propose together, to act together," Sarkozy said during an address at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
For her part, Merkel called the relationship between France and Germany "something special, something unique," and said cooperation between the two countries must grow "even closer."
Merkel became the first ever German head of government to travel to Paris to commemorate the 9.7 million soldiers who fell in World War I. In 1998, then French president Jacques Chirac had invited Gerhard Schroeder, but the former chancellor refused to come.
World War I was formally ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 when Germany signed the Armistice.
On Monday, Sarkozy had traveled to Berlin to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with the German chancellor.
On Wednesday, the two leaders placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, under the Arc de Triomphe, and then listened as both national anthems were played for the first time at that symbolic site.
Merkel said she was "deeply moved" by the ceremony and thanked Sarkozy "wholeheartedly" for having invited her.
For the French president, Merkel's presence at theceremony - which he called "a gesture of extraordinary friendship" - represented an important symbolic step in his campaign to harmonize the policies of the two countries.
According to the former junior minister for European affairs, Bruno Le Maire, Sarkozy realized early in his presidency that he could not push his proposals through on an international level on his own.
"But everything changes when (the proposals) are the result of a Franco-German initiative," Le Maire said.
The daily Le Figaro reported Wednesday that new joint proposals intended to illustrate the new spirit of relations between Paris and Berlin are to be put forward early next year.
Current Junior Minister for European Affairs Pierre Lellouche said recently this could include a joint government minister. However, German authorities are known to be cool to the idea.
