Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman says the German leader will welcome U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama to her office in Berlin next Thursday.

Spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm says the meeting at the chancellery is expected to take place on Thursday morning.

Obama’s stop in Berlin is part of a tour of the Middle East and Europe aimed at burnishing the Democratic candidate’s foreign policy credentials.

Obama also is expected to deliver a speech in Berlin. It remains unclear where that event might take place.