German chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday (10 May) made an indirect attack on Britain's main opposition Conservative Party, which is currently leading in the polls ahead of the local and European elections in the UK.

"We refuse to stretch out our hand to those who oppose the Lisbon Treaty... that allows the entry of new members [in the EU], but who at the same time talk about enlargement," Ms Merkel said in Berlin at a campaign meeting for the June European elections attended by French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

"France admires you... France wants to resemble you in [your] excellence," Mr Sarkozy (l) told his German audience

"Those who want more [Europe] must cooperate," she told young politicians from her conservative CDU party.

Ms Merkel did not specify to whom her comments were addressed, but they were largely understood as targeting the British Conservatives and their leader, David Cameron.