Merkel to host Macron for talks in Berlin on May 15

PanARMENIAN.Net - German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host Emmanuel Macron for talks in Berlin on Monday, May 15, on his first trip abroad as French president, AFP says.

The German leader had welcomed Macron's resounding election win on Sunday, saying he "carries the hopes of millions of French people and also many in Germany and across Europe".

Merkel and her government had thrown their support behind the centrist Macron against far-right and anti-EU challenger Marine Le Pen during the election campaign.

The two will meet on Monday afternoon, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said on Friday, adding that further details would be released later.

A Macron aide noted that Merkel "was the first among foreign leaders to ring him, given the importance of the relations between our two countries in restarting the European project".

"There is a wish to work together on several priorities: security, economy and investments as well as (social) protection," said the aide.

Macron visited Berlin twice during the hard-fought electoral campaign.