The East German Foreign Minister, Herr Oskar Fischer, began talks with his French counterpart, M. Jean Sauvagnargues, in Paris on Tuesday (6 January) shortly after his arrival in the French capital on a two-day official visit.

Herr Fischer is the highest-ranking East German official to visit France since the division of Germany after the Second World War.

Along with a number of other western states, France recognised East Germany in 1973, soon after former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt's programme of Ostpolitik ended nearly thirty years of hostility between West Germany and eastern Europe.

During his two days in Paris, the East German Foreign Minister is scheduled to discuss bilateral relations and international questions with Mr. Sauvagnaroues.

Last July, French External Trade Minister M. Norbert Segard visited East Berlin to sing a five-year economic accord. This complemented a ten-year economic, scientific and technical co-operation agreement concluded in 1973 during a visit to France by the East German Foreign Trade Minister Herr Horst Soelle.

French exports to East Germany in 1974 were 443 million marks (83 million pounds sterling) and imports 475 million marks (86 million pounds sterling).