Barack Obama hails Angela Merkel over handling of refugees

US president to meet Merkel, Hollande, Renzi and Cameron over EU naval patrols in Libyan waters to stem flow of migrants

Barack Obama paid tribute to the way the German chancellor Angela Merkel had managed

US president Barack Obama said Angela Merkel was on the right side of history with her management of the refugee crisis and praised the German chancellor as a steady and trustworthy ally with a really good sense of humour, as he embarked on the final phase of the last official European tour of his presidency.

Lauding Merkel for taking “very tough politics not just to express a humanitarian concern but also a practical concern”, Obama said: “She is giving a voice to the kinds of principles that bring people together rather than divide them.”

But beneath the smiles and mutual compliments lurked a range of pressing global issues that the two leaders will try to address at a G5 meeting with British prime minister, David Cameron, the French president, François Hollande, and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in Hanover on Monday afternoon.

Philip Oltermann in Berlin and Patrick Wintour

Published By - Theguardian.com - Sports New, LifeStyle News, Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis: Sunday 24 April 2016 19.36 BST

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