European dignitaries traveled to Washington for several meetings Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House.

In the morning, Obama was to meet with Angela Merkel, recently re-elected as Germany's chancellor, the White House said.

In the afternoon, the president will participate in a U.S.-European Union Summit with the Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council High Representative Javier Solana in the Cabinet Room.

Sandwiched between the meetings with European leaders was a meeting with All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians around the world.