France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy Wednesday invited Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to participate in the 2011 G-8 Summit, which will focus on security, reports the presidential website.
“President Sarkozy has asked me to attend the G-8 Summit, which will address the issue of security, an invitation to which, of course, I said yes,” Santos told reporters after a lunch meeting Wednesday with his French counterpart at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Santos explained that the request was made because “Colombia can provide experience in the fight against narco-trafficking and organized crime,” reported Spanish news agency EFE.
The G-8 Summit will take place in late May.
The Colombian President’s meeting with Sarkozy was the culmination of his official visit to France, an experience that Santos said was “very friendly and very constructive,” according to EFE.
Next, Santos will be traveling to Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.