Opening of two new Franco-German cultural institutes (ICFAs)

France and Germany together welcome the opening in recent days of two new Franco-German cultural institutes (ICFAs) in Córdoba and Glasgow.

The creation of the ICFAs is one of the 15 priority projects in the Treaty of Aachen signed by France and Germany on 22 January 2019. Through this joint initiative, our two countries together design innovative cultural venues that increase the attractiveness of our mutual networks, foster intercultural dialogue and sustain the democratic and humanist values underpinning our partnership. 

Seven years on from the signature of the treaty, three Franco-German cultural institutes have already been created: in Palermo in 2021 and then Ramallah and Atlanta in 2022.

This momentum is continuing today with the inauguration of two new joint cultural centres.

The first was inaugurated in Córdoba (Argentina) on 27 May 2026, following a year of work at the Alliance française de Córdoba, which now houses the Goethe-Institut. The second was in Glasgow (United Kingdom) on 3 June. It is the result of close cooperation between the Alliance française de Glasgow and the Goethe-Institut – which have shared the same premises for more than 20 years – and the Institut français d’Ecosse.

Moreover, the signature of the intergovernmental agreement between the French and Kyrgyz authorities on 16 April 2026 will raise the prospect of a new joint cultural centre being inaugurated in Bishkek at the end of this year.

These openings demonstrate the vitality of Franco-German cultural cooperation and the shared desire to develop new spaces for dialogue, creativity and open debates on contemporary society.

France and Germany share the strong belief that culture and language are essential levers of mutual understanding, the affirmation of democratic values and the defence of freedom in the service of peace. In an international context of tensions and self-absorption, the opening of these two Franco-German cultural institutes testifies to a shared goal: to foster a European area of cultural cooperation geared to young people and resolutely open to the world. The values of diversity, pluralism and openness are at the heart of the European enterprise and of our increasingly close Franco-German cooperation.