The Franco-German alliance must remain the engine driving the European Union, German opposition leader Angela Merkel told French leaders on Tuesday, but she said Paris and Berlin must allow other countries to come aboard. During a visit to Paris, Merkel sought to reassure President Jacques Chirac that France will continue to be Germany's key partner even if she ousts his friend and ally Gerhard Schroeder as chancellor in an election expected in September, Reuters reported. "We had an excellent meeting, marked by ... the awareness that the future construction of Europe depends very much on Franco-German relations," she told reporters after talks with Chirac. "All initiatives taken must be open to all European countries, but France and Germany must be the engine of these initiatives," she said. Merkel, 51, also met Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the leader of France's ruling conservative party who hopes to be elected president in 2007 -- and whose views appear in some ways closer to her own than Chirac's. At a joint news conference, Sarkozy and Merkel stressed their common views and sketched out a vision of a more open, less exclusive Franco-German axis. Sarkozy said "the Franco-German axis is indispensable" but added that on occasion it had been seen as a threat or subject of concern by some EU partners. "What we want is that this axis should not exclude friendship and cooperation with others. First among these are Britain, Spain and Italy," he said.
