Merkel to Meet Greek Leaders in Athens for First Time Since 2014
Greek opposition leader announces visit during German trip.
(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Greek leaders in Athens next week for the first time since 2014 ahead of a national election due by October, opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said.
The New Democracy party leader coupled the news with a jab at the Syriza-led government under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Mitsotakis, commenting in Seeon, Germany, before meeting leaders of Bavaria’s ruling Christian Social Union party, said he’ll also meet Merkel during her visit.
“I have a good personal relationship with her and hopefully, if that is the will of the Greek people, I look forward to working with her after the next national elections,” Mitsotakis told reporters.
New Democracy is a member of the European People’s Party, the same political family as Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, which is allied with the CSU in Germany’s government. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar plans to address the retreat in Bavaria on Friday.
Mitsotakis renewed a pledge to bring investment to Greece and vowed to shrink the government, saying “much more should have been achieved over the past four years than has been achieved.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Seeon, Germany at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka
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