Greece's Samaras to visit Germany next week

(AP) The German government says Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Berlin next week.

Merkel spokesman Steffen Seibert said Merkel will welcome Samaras to the chancellery on Tuesday.

He said Friday that the informal meeting offers an opportunity for the two leaders to review progress that Greece has made in implementing reform plans. Samaras will be in Berlin to attend a closed-doors economic conference organized by a German newspaper.

Greece has been kept afloat since May 2010 by rescue loans from the other 16 eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund. In return for the loans, the lenders Merkel's Germany in particular insisted on a series of economic reforms, tax raises and spending cuts.