Merkel vows close Paris ties
BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) - Germany’s new chancellor, Angela Merkel, pledged on Wednesday to maintain privileged ties with France and vowed to stay out of Iraq on a lightning tour to reassure EU partners of continuity in Berlin’s foreign policy.
Merkel has said she wants better ties with the United States but she sent a clear signal to the European Union by choosing to visit Paris and then Brussels on her first full day as Germany’s leader. She plans to visit EU president Britain on Thursday. The conservative chancellor underscored her commitment to closer European integration and said the EU, after a string of setbacks on its stalled constitution and budget, needed to show it could take decisions and pursue economic reforms. "We no longer have ideological trench warfare to worry us," the leader of Germany’s right-left "grand coalition" said. "So we will be looking for pragmatic solutions. "We need to focus on economic reform so that in a globalised world, we can be competitive, we can keep up," she said.
In Paris, where President Jacques Chirac greeted her with a kiss on the hand, Merkel told a joint news conference: "I am confident we will manage to develop our cordial relationship." Chirac underlined the need for France and Germany to remain Europe’s engine at a time when it faces major challenges.
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