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Hollande in 'frank and friendly' talks with Eurogroup chief

10 May 2012, 21:13 CET
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(PARIS) - The head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, on Thursday briefed France's president-elect Francois Hollande on the Greek financial crisis, Hollande said.

"We talked about the future of the Eurogroup," said Hollande, adding that Juncker, who is also Luxembourg's prime minister, also "shed light on a number of other issues".

Hollande said that "for the moment the crisis in Greece is political" with increased uncertainty about how to solve it.

Hollande's transition chief Pierre Moscovici earlier said the 70-minute meeting was a "frank and friendly working exchange".

The pair met as the Socialist prepares to take over Tuesday from outgoing leader Nicolas Sarkozy after his election victory Sunday.

Hollande is facing resistance from many in Europe to his plan to reopen talks on the European Union's hard-won fiscal austerity pact in order to refocus the EU's economic policy on growth.

"Mr Juncker is a man who is very open to listening to Francois Hollande's ideas and who knows that the focus must be on growth," Moscovici said.

Hollande met Wednesday with EU president Herman Van Rompuy for talks in Paris also focused on economic growth.

Hollande will fly to Berlin within hours of Tuesday morning's swearing-in ceremony for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- Europe's key proponent of fiscal austerity -- and expects to form his government the following day.


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