(WARSAW) - France's President Nicolas Sarkozy is to visit Poland next month to forge strategic ties between Paris and the European Union's largest newcomer, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said Thursday.

Sarkozy will come to Warsaw on April 23 with the aim of "wrapping up a major strategic partnership," Morin told reporters during a joint press conference with his Polish opposite number Bogdan Klich.

"In France we are convinced that Poland and France have the capacity to move forward together in areas such as the development of Europe's industry and technology, notably via the European Defence Agency," Morin said.

"We can work together to evolve Europe, on a range of issues on which we markedly share views," he said.

He said that Poland, which broke away from the crumbling communist bloc in 1989, joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004, would play a "major role" in developing European security policy.

"There's probably more enthusiasm for Europe today in the East than the West," he added.

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