Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington next month and address a joint session of the US Congress, government spokesman Thomas Steg said in Berlin on Monday. Merkel won another four years in power at the September 27 general election, when her Christian Democratic bloc and a pro-business party between them won a majority.
Until the parties agree terms for a new government, her 2004 appointment as chancellor remains in force.
The address to Congress is scheduled for November 3 and will focus on the 20th anniversary of the November 9, 1989 opening of the Berlin Wall, Steg said. Merkel would also talk about Europe-US relations.
"It is a rare honour for an foreign guest to speak before both the Senate and the House of Representatives," said Steg. Only one other chancellor, Konrad Adenauer in 1957, has addressed the US Congress.
