Time to say goodbye! Merkel greets Hollande with kiss before last official dinner
FRANCOIS Hollande was greeted with a kiss as he met Angela Merkel today for the last time as French president before Emmanuel Macron takes over this weekend.
Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel met a day after the French election result was revealed
The German chancellor greeted the outgoing president at the Chancellery in Berlin on May 8, just one day after the centrist former banker was elected as the next leader of France.
Photographs show the pair met one another with a hug and a kiss ahead of their private dinner this evening - a fond farewell between two allied politicians.
At the meeting Ms Merkel hopes to thank the president "for the close cooperation in the past five years, for a good chapter of Franco-German friendship, for the very intensive cooperation”, according to her spokesman.
Ms Merkel and Mr Hollande embraced ahead of their final meal together
Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande have worked together within the EU and G7
But no other comments were made before the media ahead of the visit.
Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande have worked together within the European Union, the G7 and the G20 countries, and across multiple crises affecting the Brussels bloc over the years.
The French leader is due to be replaced this weekend with Emanuel Macron, after he won the second round run-off on Sunday.
Mr Macron is expected to visit the Berlin Chancellery next week, and Mrs Merkel has already expressed her hope of working closely with the 39-year-old pro-European.
She said: “I was delighted about the fantastic electoral success of Emmanuel Macron and I congratulated him personally yesterday by telephone.
Hollande guides Macron through VE Day commemorations
The French leader is due to be replaced this weekend with Emanuel Macron
“Emmanuel Macron carries the hopes of millions of French people and of many people in Germany and the whole of Europe.
“He conducted a brave, pro-European campaign. He stands for openness to the world.
“He stands firmly behind a social market economy and we know that Germany and France are bound by fate.”