. >> what have we learned from 50 years of franco-german friendship? our greatest problems can be solved when we remind ourselves the value of peace and freedom. if we dare to except change. >> earlier, -- havoc with a tight schedule when the german president welcomed his french guests and the national anthem is cannot be played due to extreme cold. a joint cabinet meeting had ministers from both governments working on, proposals to deepen the economic and military union. >> she says the proposals are about a deeper cooperation in economic policy with the goal a social security, employment, nd financials. >> the spirit of cooperation was exactly what the treaty of friendship was all about. >> here is a look back. >> the idyllic village near the border region has a special place in european history. and is the birthplace of the franco-german friendship. after two world wars, if you believe such a thing was possible. the unthinkable did happen. they did not have much in common. both catholic and a conservative. >> what was surprising is that the first con

live from moscow back to one of our top stories today the franco german celebrations of their postwar friendship as promised let's cross live now to the german capital and talk to judith think of our political scientists at the free university of berlin thanks for being with us fifty years ago the french of force between france and germany and it was seen really as the foundation stone of the european union how far away is europe from that foundation today. you know i don't know for that far away from that foundation now as with as with any partnership or political friendship as some call it there are certain ups and downs but what really brings the european union forward in this franco german relationship is that with their opposing views they often do find a compromise that then is supported by all and is stable within the european union but during his own like election campaign french president along promised to provide a counterweight to berlin's austerity policies we're not seeing any other remedies being proposed do you think he has softened his stance. well i mean certainly tha

overcome those deep foreign policy divisions assessing whether there are more lows than highs in franco german relations right now is artie's people all over. well it's certainly a meeting that's filled with pomp and circumstance but they as they celebrate the formalizing of the friendship between former foes but what we are seeing though is that hoping that the celebration can paper over some of the divisions between europe's power couple of course france and germany the two major economies and the well the two biggest voices in europe really when it comes to how to tackle the eurozone crisis all around wants to see more spending to promote growth where is a miracle stuck to her guns saying it's only through austerity that any kind of problems in the eurozone can be fixed now there's also rising concern here in germany over the state of the french economy the german people and german finance is looking to shoulder thinking well we don't want to get caught up to cold if you'll recall and he sneezes it was a expected that the french economy went into recession at the end of twenty twelve hours

claude runs a franco-german business consultancy. he says that a number of innovative companies cannot and no longer expect to find bilingual staff in alsace. >> there are tens of thousands of jobs on the german and swiss border as well as in alsace itself. companies expect people here to speak excellent german, and that means french applicants do not get the jobs because their german is not good enough. >> he sends his children to a bilingual school. he tells them about various stereotypical images of germans and why they came about. >> for now, there's a divide here in alsace. on the one hand, there are people like us who have no prejudices who just think it is great to be able to speak french and german. but then there are others who are still very prejudiced about germans. >> under pressure from parental associations, the french government has begun to address the issue. some 25,000 children are now getting intensive german lessons. if the demand grows, the school authorities could run into difficulty. >> there are not enough peop

lawmakers want to remind young people of their role in protecting and nurturing the franco-german alliance. >> the friendship between germany and france is not something we can take for granted. we must be filled with life by every generation, both by people and politicians in both countries. >> in january 1963, the german chancellor and french president signed the treaty, marking a new beginning, when it ended centuries of war, mistrust, and hostility and grew into an unprecedented friendship, giving both countries strength and prosperity. >> where else on this globe are there so many partnerships between communities, cities, and regions? we have more than 2000 partnerships at the local level alone. where else in the world are so many people actively involved in partnership associations and friendship organizations? these people are the real bridge builders in german-french relations. >> even so, the number of students learning french or german as a second language is steadily falling, and language is key to fostering and understanding. 50 years of friendship notwithstanding, there remain

lawmakers want to remind young people of their role in protecting and nurturing the franco-german alliance. >> the friendship between germany and france is not something we can take for granted. we must be filled with life by every generation, both by people and politicians in both countries. >> in january 1963, the german chancellor and french president signed the treaty, marking a new beginning, when it ended centuries of war, mistrust, and hostility and grew into an unprecedented friendship, giving both countries strength and prosperity. >> where else on this globe are there so many partnerships between communities, cities, and regions? we have more than 2000 partnerships at the local level alone. where else in the world are so many people actively involved in partnership associations and friendship organizations? these people are the real bridge builders in german-french relations. >> even so, the number of students learning french or german as a second language is steadily falling, and language is key to fostering and understanding. 50 years of friendship notwithstanding, there remain

you to, this franco german relationship needless to say during celebrations, everybody says how important it is. but is it still valid or i'm almost inclined to say it is as valid and important as it was 50 years ago? >> yes, i would agree. it is still as important as it was 50 years ago. france and germany still carry a lot of political and economic weight in the european union. in this regard, they are the most important countries. but there's a second factor which links in which is that germany and france do often take on opposing points of view with regard to the solution for the euro crisis that other countries can rally around either the french or the german position. so once they have found a compromise together, they can lead in the european union. so yes, they are still pivotal and very important in bringing forward european integration. >> and as i said in the lead in, even though us journalists love the headlines, especially when you look at the anglo-saxon environment, the relationship between the country sess broken and the germans don't need the french any more and now in a

have been reports that north korean authorities are hiring german economists to help open the country up for foreign investment a torrent of franco from the university of vienna says economic development in north korea is still a distant dream. the big problem is actually not north korea or willingness to receive investors it is the reluctance of western investors to actually go to north korea the north korean western environment is not the worst cure for although the state has been trying a lot still the do have reports of investors who have difficulties with the red tape and also were her change in attitude of the government you know about investors specially chinese investors who have left the country frustration the biggest problem i think for us the worst is all over western sanctions this very easy actually it's almost impossible not to while they don't use action if you deal with north korea because almost anything is dual use the procedures of checking whether you are or not why would sanctions are very complicated because. there's also a great deal of of unknown and insecurity about what the actual rules are and my fresh