German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Monday for a meeting with French President Francois Hollande to take stock of Greece's resounding rejection of its international creditor's bailout proposals in a referendum, AFP reports.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived Monday for a meeting with French President Francois Hollande to take stock of Greece's resounding rejection of its international creditor's bailout proposals in a referendum, AFP reports.
Merkel was met by Hollande on the front steps of the Elysee Palace for the meeting which could set the tone for a hastily convened eurozone summit on Tuesday in Brussels.
The two leaders will hold talks to "evaluate the consequences of the referendum in Greece" after Greek voters rejected the creditors' tough bailout conditions, the French presidency said in a statement Sunday.
They will address the media around 1715 GMT before holding a working dinner.
As European leaders digested the divisive result of the referendum, the bloc's two biggest economies will attempt to find common ground on a crisis in which they have not always seen eye to eye.
Ahead of the meeting Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said "there is no basis to enter into negotiations on a new aid programme" after the referendum.
France's government spokesman Stephane Le Foll took a softer line, urging Athens to come up with "new proposals".
"No one among the leaders involved has expressed the wish to kick Greece out" of the eurozone, he said.
"So we must get back into a situation where we can talk."