Foreign Minister Westerwelle and Defence Minister de Maizière will meet French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian tomorrow (22 January) at the Federal Foreign Office for a session of the Franco-German Defence and Security Council.

The meeting is taking place as part of a series of events honouring the 50th anniversary of the Élysée Treaty. It also marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Council.

The talks will focus on the mission in Mali, further development of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) in Europe and other current foreign policy issues.