Photo: Reuters

Incoming French president François Hollande formally takes office today, May 15^th and, within hours of his inauguration, will travel to Berlin for his first meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Francois Hollande is about to be sworn in as the country's first socialist president in 17 years.

Hollande, whose election comes as the euro zone is teetering back into crisis over fears about Greece's future in the single currency, will give his first presidential news conference in Berlin in the evening, flanked by the centre-right Merkel.

Just hours after the inauguration, he will head to Germany, underscoring the importance of the German-French relationship at the core of finding a solution to Europe’s debt crisis. Hollande has demanded that the EU’s fiscal treaty, including growth measures, be renegotiated. But Germany is cool to the idea.

Later in the week Mr. Hollande flies to the United States where he will meet with President Barack Obama at the White House on Friday before attending a Group of Eight (G-8) summit at the presidential retreat outside Washington, and a NATO summit in Chicago./.