Merkel Never Holding Hands With Sarkozy Betrays Europe’s Crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have never held hands as Helmut Kohl and Francois Mitterrand once did at a World War I battlefield. Merkel worries they don’t even talk enough.

After no fewer than seven one-on-one meetings the past 18 months -- in addition to parleys at summits -- the leaders of the biggest European economies have yet to hit on an effective solution to the crisis stalking the euro, Fredrik Erixon, head of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels, said in an interview.