Merkel to welcome Hollande "with open arms"

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday she would welcome French president-elect Francois Hollande "with open arms" and said the two leaders would work together closely. "We will work together well and intensively and we will meet quite soon after (he enters office)," Merkel told a news conference, one day after Hollande was elected French president. "I may say from my side that Francois Hollande will be welcomed with open arms here in Germany by me," said Merkel, who publicly backed President Nicolas Sarkozy during the election campaign. Merkel also said it was important that Greece, where ruling pro-bailout parties lost their majority in a parliamentary election on Sunday, continue with the agreed reform programs.