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Angela Merkel and Joe Biden (on a state visit by the then US Vice President in February 2015)
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Andreas Gebert / dpa
Shortly before the end of her 16-year term in office, Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) will travel to the most important international partners in person.
After her visit to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a meeting with US President Joe Biden is now on the agenda.
The Chancellor will be received at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
Your schedule will probably be fuller than initially planned.
As government spokesman Steffen Seibert announced, Merkel is to be awarded an honorary doctorate from the Johns Hopkins University on the sidelines of her visit.
It is already the 18th corresponding award for Merkel.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are hosting a dinner in the White House in honor of the Chancellor, who will leave office after the general election in September.
Merkel's husband Joachim Sauer will also attend the dinner, said Seibert.
Before that, a bilateral discussion, an extended meeting and a joint press conference by Merkel and Biden are on the program.
Merkel is the first head of government from Europe to have been received by Biden in the White House since he took office in January.
The topics that Merkel and Biden will talk about hold potential for conflict.
The White House also wants to address the controversial German-Russian Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2.
Washington and Berlin are trying to find a compromise.
"We are still of the opinion that it is a bad deal that brings global problems with it," Biden's spokesman Jen Psaki said on Friday.
In addition, the talks should be about climate change, the fight against the corona pandemic, the relationship with China and Russia and numerous other topics.
It was unclear, however, whether there would be a meeting between the Chancellor and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Assange case: supporters address Merkel with an open letter
It is also uncertain whether the two heads of government will speak about the case of the jailed whistleblower Julian Assange.
Around 120 politicians, artists and journalists appealed on Monday in an open letter to Merkel initiated by investigative journalist and writer Günter Wallraff to campaign at Biden for the release of Wikileaks founder Assange.
Government spokesman Seibert initially did not want to comment.
"We have full confidence that the rule of law and guarantees will be guaranteed in Great Britain," he said simply and added: "I'm not pre-empting the talks in Washington here."
Habeck and Walter-Borjans support letter
According to the dpa news agency, the letter reads: "We plead with you to help build bridges in the Julian Assange case." The Chancellor should make it clear "how important it is to defend press freedom To drop Wikileaks founder, so that he can recover freely with his family. «The supporters of the letter include SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans, Green chairman Robert Habeck and other members of the Bundestag from the CDU, SPD, FDP , Left and Greens.
The US judiciary accuses Assange, together with whistleblower Chelsea Manning, of stealing secret material from US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as a huge number of diplomatic cables and publishing them on Wikileaks.
The US is demanding that the UK extradite Assange.
After years in asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, Assange is now in custody in the HMP Belmarsh maximum security prison in London.
fek / dpa / Reuters
