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Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. (L) greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, 24 Jul 2008
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U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama is in Germany on a visit he says is aimed at restoring unity across the Atlantic.
He met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose spokesman called the talks "very open".
Later Thursday, up to 100,000 people are expected to gather at Berlin's "Victory Column" for the only formal speech during Obama's week-long international tour.
The first-term U.S. senator says, if elected president, he would pursue international cooperation, in a place that the Bush administration once dismissed as "Old Europe."
The Democratic candidate's tour and its news coverage have come under intense criticism from the campaign of his Republican rival, John McCain. His campaign Web site accuses the media of a "bizarre fascination" with Obama.
German television will be carrying the Obama speech live.
The visit comes at the start of a European tour that will also take him to France and Britain. Obama earlier visited Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
He meets later Thursday with other German officials, Obama is also expected to address the issue of NATO troop needs in Afghanistan.
VOA News
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