| German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his wife Doris Schroeder-Koepf welcome French President Jacques Chirac, left, at the chancellery in Berlin |
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac made the call after talks in Berlin Saturday after voters in France and the Netherlands rejected the constitution this past week.
Their meeting comes ahead of a European Union summit later this month (June 16 and 17) in Brussels.
French voters rejected the constitution last Sunday, while voters in the Netherlands turned it down Wednesday. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin resigned over the rejection.
Germany's upper house of parliament ratified the constitution last week. But Mr. Schroeder suffered a tough political setback last month when his ruling party suffered a critical state election loss, prompting him to call national elections for later this year -- a year earlier than planned.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.