Bloomberg: Merkel looks East for austerity allies in Hollande talks

05 March 2013

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is turning east as she pushes plans for a more competitive Europe, seeking to bring on board the leaders of Poland and other eastern countries, as allies elsewhere prove hard to find.

Merkel and French President François Hollande travel to Warsaw today for talks on closer European Union integration with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his peers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. As southern Europeans vilify Merkel for her austerity-led solution to the debt crisis, the head of Europe’s biggest economy is looking for support to the countries of the east she knows from childhood growing up in communist East Germany. It’s the first time that French and German leaders are jointly attending the four-country forum.

Forging eastern alliances might help Merkel outmanoeuvre the UK as it seeks to shield the City of London, and allow her to sidestep efforts to block closer integration in Europe, including her latest push on competitiveness. In Eastern Europe, Germany’s strategic aim is to avoid splitting the EU into euro area and non-euro countries.

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