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The
two leaders said last night after their first meeting in Berlin that
they both wanted to keep Greece in the 17-nation group.
They also offered their support to promote growth in their EU partner and help it to emerge from the present crisis.
At the same time, they reminded the Greek politicians that their country has to fulfil its commitments to the EU.
"We
want Greece to remain in the euro zone and we know that this is the
wish of the majority of the Greek people," Merkel told a joint news
conference with Hollande after their one-hour meeting in the
chancellory.
The
meeting was an occasion for the two leaders to get to know each other
and to smoothen their relations after Merkel's open support for former
French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the election campaign.
Her refusal to receive Hollande during the campaign had also caused some irritations.
Hollande said he hoped the Greek people will reaffirm their adherence to the euro zone in the upcoming election.
He also mooted the idea of a European growth policy for Greece.
The
meeting in Berlin was overshadowed by the news from Athens that a
last-ditch effort by President Karolos Papoulias to form a government of
technocrats failed because of continuing differences between pro and
anti-bailout parties.
A
caretaker government will rule the country until the election, which is
expected to take place in four weeks. Hollande renewed his criticism of
the EU's fiscal pact on budget discipline and said he will press for
its renegotiation.
During
the election campaign, he insisted that he will not accept the fiscal
pact in the present form and a component to promote growth and
employment must be included.
"As
President of the French republic I want to renegotiate what was
accepted at a certain stage to give it the dimension of growth," he
said.
Growth should not be an empty word and it must be felt in every day life.
Everything which can contribute to growth must be discussed at the next summit of the EU leaders on 23rd May, he said.
These
included a proposal for a common euro bond for all nations having the
single currency, which is strongly opposed by Merkel.
The
Chancellor, who championed the fiscal pact together with Hollande's
predecessor Sarkozy always insisted that the agreement signed by 25 of
the 27 EU member nations in March and ratified by some members is not
open for negotiations and she will stick to her austerity course, which
in her view is the right strategy to resolve the euro zone debt crisis.
Referring
to the economic situation in France, Hollande said first of all growth
must be generated at the national and European level.
This is a prerequisite for scaling down debt and budget deficit.
The
French economy stagnated in the first quarter this year after achieving
a 0.2 per cent growth in the final quarter of 2011, according to
official statistics.
The two leaders underlined the importance of the Franco-German relations and their key role in the EU.
The two nations are determined to work together for the benefit of their people and for Europe in general, they said.
The
French President said his first foreign trip after taking office took
him to Berlin because of the importance his country attaches to its
relations with Germany.
His
appointment of his socialist colleague Jean-Marc Ayrault, a former
German teacher and expert on German affairs as the new Prime Minister,
is interpreted by some analysts as an indication of his desire to
further build up the Franco-German relations.
Hollande,
who dashed to Berlin just hours after his swearing in as the first
Socialist President in 17 years, arrived in Berlin nearly one-and-a-half
hours late as his aircraft was struck by a lightning shortly after
taking off from Paris and he was forced to return to board another
plane, media reports said quoting French government officials.
The President and his entourage were unhurt. He was received with military honours by Merkel as he arrived at the chancellery.
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