German finance minister to meet anti-austerity Greek opposition leader Tsipras

BERLIN – Germany's finance minister will meet Greek opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, a vehement opponent of Berlin-backed austerity policies, when he visits the German capital next week.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will meet Tsipras on Monday. Tsipras, who heads Greece's Radical Left Coalition Party, will be in Berlin for a rally organized by a hard-left German opposition party.

Ministry spokeswoman Marianne Kothe said Friday that Tsipras requested the meeting.

Greece has been kept afloat since May 2010 by rescue loans from the other 16 European Union countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund. In return for the loans, the lenders — Germany in particular — have insisted on a series of economic reforms, tax raises and spending cuts.