For years, Germany had been seen as the leading light of Europe — both politically and economically powerful, and with a figurehead in the form of Angela Merkel who was instantly recognizable on the continent and internationally.

Her retirement, a comparatively unstable successor government led by the center-left's Olaf Scholz, and the difficult passage through the economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, saw Germany's European star dull.

Across the border, Emmanuel Macron — no stranger to his own domestic political battles — has emerged as Europe's most important national leader amid the global shocks wrought by the second Trump administration and its hostile posture towards traditional European allies.

Germany is without a government, but is expected to return to a "Grand Coalition" led by Friedrich Merz and his center-right Union with a junior partner in the center-left Social Democrats.

But while these establishment parties thrash out the terms of their political alliance, Europe's most powerful economy is stuck with a caretaker government during Donald Trump's barrage of tariffs and the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

While Macron has always been among the world's most recognizable national leaders, he has been........

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