French, German first ladies caught joking at Holocaust Memorial ceremony

France's First Lady Brigitte Macron shared a joke with her German counterpart as the pair accompanied their husbands to a wreath-laying ceremony at Berlin's Holocaust Memorial on May 27 morning, per Daily Mail.

French President Emmanuel Macron laid a wreath at the site of the memorial to the six million Jewish people who perished at the hands of the Nazis during World War II alongside his wife as well as German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his partner, Elke Budenbender.

As the couples walked through the concrete blocks which make up the memorial, Brigitte and Budenbender were seen holding hands and laughing as they made their way to the ceremony.

Macron made the gesture as part of his state visit to Germany, the first presidential visit by a French leader in 24 years. The wreath laying took place at the start of the second day of the trip.

The memorial is located not far from the Brandenburg Gate in the German capital. Macron and Steinmeier took turns laying wreaths wrapped in the colours of each nation.

After a brief ceremony, the two couples went inside the accompanying museum commemorating the six million people killed by Nazi Germany during World War II.

The visit will be seen as a check on the health of the German-French relationship that drives EU policymaking, at a time of major challenges for Europe – from the war in Ukraine to the possible election of Trump in the US.

The two countries will also try to find common ground on the EU agenda for the next five years, given the expected strong rise of the far right in the parliamentary elections on June 6 and 9, making decision-making in the EU more difficult.