France to host first Franco-Polish summit
Presidents Jacques Chirac and Aleksander Kwasniewski will hold the first-ever Franco-Polish summit on February 28 in the northern French city of Arras, Chirac's office announced Thursday.
Relations between Paris and Warsaw suffered in 2003 when Poland backed the US-led war in Iraq, and again more recently over a reference to Christian values in the draft European Union constitution.
But French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, on a visit to Warsaw last month, spoke of a "new beginning" in the bilateral relationship, denying that ties were adversely affected by Poland's pro-US stance within the EU.
Chirac's office did not give details about the upcoming summit in northern France, home to a large community of Polish immigrants.