BERLIN (AP) – Alexis Tsipras is visiting Germany for the first time since becoming Greece’s prime minister as his debt-ridden country and its key creditor seek to halt a downward spiral in relations.
Chancellor Angela Merkel will welcome the left-wing Tsipras to the chancellery on Monday.
Last week, Merkel and other European leaders told Tsipras to come up soon with budget cuts and tax increases that would enable him to get more bailout money.
Tsipras’ first few weeks in office have been marked by tensions over the two governments’ contrasting approaches to the debt crisis and Athens’ revival of calls for World War II reparations from Berlin.
German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel told ARD television Sunday he hopes for a “new beginning” in relations.