German Chancellor Angela Merkel met new French President Francois Hollande this evening for their first-ever talks set to be dominated by differences over crisis remedies for Europe as the risk of a Greek eurozone exit piles on the pressure.
After the collapse of talks in Athens on forming a new government, forcing new elections, Merkel will have to to overcome a rift with the newly sworn-in French leader over the eurozone's economic roadmap.
Their face-to-face talks began more than an hour late after lightning hit Hollande's presidential plane en route, forcing it to turn around before he again set off for the German capital in another aircraft.
He finally arrived at Merkel's chancellery in light rain, shaking hands with the German leader and chatting before walking up a red carpet to a podium where the French and German national anthems were played by a military band.
Following the talks, both leaders stressed that they would like to see Greece stay in the eurozone. Hollande vowed to put "everything on the table" to boost growth in the eurozone after calling for "balanced" and "respectful" relations with Germany.
While Merkel has championed austerity through belt-tightening and debt reduction to battle the crisis dogging the 17-nation eurozone, the Socialist Hollande swept to victory on a pledge to refocus EU fiscal efforts on growth.
Since his May 6 routing of Nicolas Sarkozy, both Berlin and Paris have publicly dug their heels in over their respective positions, talking tough on policy ahead of their meeting.
Just hours before his arrival, Hollande reiterated his vow to turn the page on austerity and invest for the future, saying he would propose to France's partners "a new pact that links a necessary reduction in public debt with indispensable economic stimulus".
But with financial markets and international partners seeking reassurance that Europe's traditional Franco-German engine will continue to drive the eurozone, the pair are under pressure to find common ground.
Hollande has argued that austerity is no longer "the only option", ruffling feathers in Berlin which drove through the EU fiscal pact enshrining tougher budget discipline for the 25 of the 27 EU members who signed up to it.