German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed Emmanuel Macron to the chancellery in Berlin on Monday for the newly-inaugurated leader’s first trip as French President.
Macron was received with military honours ahead of talks with Merkel about the Franco-German relationship and their plan to reform the European Union.
The visit comes on the heels of a major weekend victory for Merkel’s conservative CDU party in the bellwether state of North Rhine Westphalia, which gave her a boost of political momentum ahead of Germany’s national poll in September.
Merkel has said she expects “much overlap” with Macron during the visit, which comes hours after Macron named the centre-right mayor of Le Havre, Edouard Philippe, as his prime minister. (DPA)
