Germany's Merkel ready to meet French presidential hopeful MacronFebruary 25, 2017 - 11:33 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is ready to meet independent French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron before the French election and the two sides are discussing dates, a German government spokesman said on Friday, February 24, according to Reuters. Macron, the election frontrunner, did not get an audience with Merkel when he visited Berlin last month, but was welcomed in London this week by Prime Minister Theresa May. The spokesman said there was no firm date yet but the expectation is that Merkel and Macron will meet in March. In the run-up to the last French election in 2012, Merkel, a conservative, refused to meet with Socialist Francois Hollande, the eventual winner, amid pressure from incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, also a conservative. That may have contributed to the rocky start in relations between Merkel and Hollande. Some Merkel aides later described the decision not to meet him as a mistake. Fillon visited Merkel in Berlin in late January, a day before French satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine published a story revealing that he had paid his wife hundreds of thousands of euros in taxpayer money over a number of years to be his parliamentary assistant, despite no evidence that she had actually worked. Fillon has said the work his wife Penelope did was genuine and denied doing anything illegal. But the scandal has dogged him ever since, and on Friday French prosecutors appointed a magistrate to investigate it, in a further blow to the candidate. Most polls now show Macron, who got a boost this week from the endorsement of centrist Francois Bayrou, is likely to beat Fillon in the first round of the election on April 23 and face off against National Front leader Marine Le Pen in the runoff between the top two candidates two weeks later. The polls show either Macron or Fillon would beat Le Pen in the second round, although their expected margin of victory has been shrinking. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Macron says France commemorates 109th anniv. of Armenian genocide Today France commemorates the 109th anniversary of the Armenian genocide of 1915, Macron says. Pashinyan: We must stop searching for homeland, we have found that homeland Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has shared a message on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Erdogan wants “realistic road map” for relations with Armenia Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a “new realistic road map” for relations with Armenia. Armenia-Azerbaijan: Experts launch work on determining coordinates Expert groups from the countries started the process of determining the coordinates based on geodetic measurements. |