At the NATO summit in July 1997 in Madrid, the Alliance’s heads of state or of government invited Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary to commence negotiations with the aim of accession in 1999. disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation are further key elements of German foreign and security Policy. They serve to limit and reduce weapon capabilities, prevent the new stockpiling of weapons and, through cooperation and transparency, build confidence between states in matters of military and security policy.

by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and President Charles de Gaulle through the treaty signed in the Elysee Palace in Paris in 1963. In recent years attention has been focused on issues pertaining to the process of European unification, which has been decisively furthered by joint initiatives of the two governments. Increasingly close relations between the parliamentarians of both nations likewise reflect the special quality of Franco-German cooperation in all areas. The stability of Franco-German friendship is guaranteed by the contacts between the citizens of both countries (more than 1,800 town twinnings and 3,000 school twinnings, as well as cooperation between the regions)