French President Nicholas Sarkozy arrives in Bucharest on Monday, in an official five-hour visit to sign a strategic partnership, the first partnership France signed with an Eastern European country, AFP informs. Moreover, the visit is part of a tour Sarkozy planned in several other European capitals before France gets the EU Presidency this year.

According to the French Presidency, quoted by AFP, the strategic partnership is structured on several chapters: political dialogue, economic relations, cultural and research cooperation, free movement of workers and safety and defense issues.

Moreover, an official press release reads that Romania is very important for the European Union as it is the seventh biggest country in terms of European Parliament representatation. Sarkozy will meet his Romanian counterpart Basescu and the Romanian PM Tariceanu.