BERLIN — German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday she believes a stable partnership with Socialist French president-elect Francois Hollande is possible after she backed his rival Nicolas Sarkozy.

In answer to a journalist’s question to that effect, the conservative leader said: “Yes, I think I can, because we know that... good Franco-German relations are quite simply very important for both countries.”
The question was scripted for a weekly video-podcast issued by Merkel’s office ahead of a meeting between Hollande and Merkel on Tuesday.

Hollande, who was elected on May 6, will fly to Berlin the day of his inauguration after naming his prime minister.

The two leaders are expected to discuss the eurozone crisis and bilateral relations, a chancellery spokesman said.

The Socialist leader had previously promised that his first visit would be to the German capital, where Merkel has said he would be welcomed with “open arms” despite divergent views on the European stability pact.

Merkel’s spokesman said Friday that she “is sure that the traditionally close coordination with France will continue to be the foundation of their work together in Europe — to ensure prosperity, peace and democracy in the long run.”

In an interview published Saturday by the daily Die Welt, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also expressed confidence in an “excellent partnership” with Hollande.

“It is not the first time that we will have governments of differing orientations,” Westerwelle said, recalling how Christian-Democrat Helmut Kohl and Socialist Francois Mitterrand negotiated terms for German unification in 1990. — AFP