Newly appointed French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne will travel to Kyiv on 13 January. This will be his first official visit to Ukraine.
What is known about the visit of the French Foreign Minister to Ukraine
The visit of Stephane Sejourne was announced by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"On 13 January 2024, Stephane Sejourne will make his first foreign visit to Kyiv to reaffirm our continued support for Ukraine in Europe," the statement said.
Change of prime minister in France
The previous prime minister, Elizabeth Bourne, resigned the day before. She had been in office since May 2022 and was previously the Minister of Labour.
On 11 January, newly appointed French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced a new Cabinet of Ministers. In particular, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was headed by Stéphane Sejourne instead of Catherine Colonna.
It is believed that the change of prime minister is an attempt by President Emmanuel Macron to reboot the government before the European Parliament elections in June.
The resignation of the previous prime minister also coincides with the final preparations for the Paris Olympics to be held this summer.
"This (appointment of a new prime minister — ed.) shows Macron's desire to try to go beyond last year's unpopular pension and immigration reforms and improve his party's chances in the June EU vote," Reuters writes.
Opinion polls show that Macron's party is lagging behind the far-right Marine Le Pen's party by about 8-10%.
