Some 30 Alsatian gourmet dishes were merely hors-d’oeuvres before the “main entrée”, Greece, on Friday during a posh dinner hosted by French President Francois Hollande for his two German guests: Chancellor Angela Merkel and EuroParliament President Martin Schulz.
No real statements emerged afterwards, only a comment by a Schulz aide saying there was a “friendly and constructive discussion”.
According to Le Figaro, Paris wants to serve as the liaison between the radical left government in Athens and European lenders.
The French daily even refers to the Strasbourg dinner’s “small talk”, saying Hollande mentioned “methods” and “options” of dialogue between the German chancellor and the new Greek Prime Minister.
German press reports, on their part, cited the mostly expected briefing that social democrat Schulz gave his interlocutors about his talks with Greek leadership a day earlier in Athens.
The trio “broke bread” in the posh Strasbourg restaurant — reserved entirely for them — hours after the completion of Eurogroup chief’s Jeroen Dijsselbloem strained meetings in Greece.
