U.S. President George W. Bush will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on January 11 on her first trip to Washington since taking office last week, both governments said Wednesday according to dpa. The two leaders will discuss ways to "intensify" U.S.-German ties and "work together to advance freedom and prosperity around the world", the White House said. Merkel, leader of the center-right Christian Democrats, has pledged to forge closer ties with the United States. Relations between the two countries hit a low under Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, who steadfastly opposed the war in Iraq. U.S. Secretary Condoleezza Rice will travel to Berlin on Monday for talks with Merkel, having met the new German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in Washington on Tuesday. Germany's new defence minister, Franz Josef Jung, is scheduled to hold talks in Washington on December 20.
