German chancellor hopeful Scholz to meet French President Macron

The current front-runner to become Germany's next chancellor, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz from the Social Democrats (SPD), is taking his election campaign to France on Monday, and meeting French President Emmanuel Macron.
Scholz has put maintaining strong Franco-German relations high on his foreign policy agenda, and has previously said Paris would be his first destination abroad were he to become chancellor.
He has argued, like many German leaders before him, that the bilateral relationship between the European Union's two largest economies is key to having a strong EU.
Macron and Scholz are set to discuss a proposed "climate club" of countries willing to move faster to meet greenhouse gas emissions targets. They are also set to discuss a global minimum tax rate for companies - a measure backed by Scholz - and the coronavirus pandemic, including the current status of the EU coronavirus recovery package.
Scholz' main rival in the German election campaign, Armin Laschet from the Christian Democrats (CDU), is due to be received by Macron later this week.
Laschet has so far left open the question of where he would go on his first foreign destination were he to become chancellor.
The Green chancellor candidate, Annalena Baerbock, is not visiting Paris this week. It is not clear from sources in Paris whether she had received an invite from the Elysee Palace.
Her party, nevertheless, showed no regret, telling dpa that: "Paris is not where we are fighting this campaign."