French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to visit Romania at PM Tariceanu’s invitation

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin will pay an official visit to Bucharest on February 1 at the invitation of Romanian counterpart Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, with this being the first Romanian-French meeting at the level of government heads after Romania joined the European Union.

‘Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin’s presence in Bucharest enables the consolidation of the bilateral relations and the development of the special partnership between Romania and France within the European Union. The year of Romania’s EU accession coincides with the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Romanian-French special partnership in 1997, on the occasion of the visit paid to Romania by President Jacques Chirac’, government’s spokeswoman Oana Marinescu said.

Tariceanu had invited the French premier to pay a visit to Romania in last November, when he was in Bordeax to sustain knee surgery.

One of the topics to be tackled by the two prime ministers is related to the prospects of the cooperation between Romania and France and their mutual support for the promotion of common interests.

‘The relation between Romania and France will enter a new logic, the one of European partnerships. The Romanian Government considers France an European partner very close to our country’, Marinescu stressed. Bucharest considers that the special partnership Romania and France have can be an important instrument for the consolidation of the European project.

During Dominique de Villepin’s visit to Romania, the two countries will sign an intergovernmental agreement on the return to the country of origin of the minors who are in difficulty on the French territory as well as on the fight against the exploitation networks and organised crime.

The two officials will also tackle the diversification of the bilateral economic cooperation, taking into account the successful investments made by major French companies in the Romanian market and the Romanian investments in France that have grown constantly in the last years.

The Romanian Government believes that in the upcoming period the two countries’ companies will be able to develop industrial and economic partnerships in such sectors like the aviation industry, transport, construction materials, car-making and farming.

The agenda of the talks will also include the moves made by Romania with a view to strengthening the Francophonie inside the European Union. ‘Romania wants to be a pole of Francophonie in the region and contribute to strengthening the Francophone side in the EU’, the spokeswoman stressed.

Tariceanu and De Villepin will also discuss about the events staged as part of the project called ‘Sibiu, the 2007 European Cultural Capital’ in which France will also take part, as well as about the possibility to expand the network of Romanian and French cultural institutions in the two countries. ROMPRES