Merkel, Monti to meet for Eurozone Talks

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold talks on the Eurozone crisis here next week with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

Merkel will receive Monti, who took office in November, with military honors at the chancellor's office on January 11, Georg Streiter told a regular news conference.

He said discussions would focus on "bilateral and international issues, the situation in the Eurozone as well as the economic development in Europe".

The meeting is set to follow talks between Monti and French President Nicolas Sarkozy scheduled for Paris on Friday. He is also due to travel to London to meet Prime Minister David Cameron on January 18.

Monti called last week for a "united, joint and convincing response" to the debt crisis from the European Union, stressing that recent problems for Italy on the markets were linked to wider difficulties in Europe.

Silvio Berlusconi's replacement by Monti as prime minister has helped ease fears of an imminent debt implosion as the former European Union commissioner quickly put in place a tough plan of austerity measures.