President Barack Obama will welcome French President Francois Hollande to the nation's capital next year with an official state visit that will stress the close relationship between their two nations.
Hollande and his partner, Valerie Trierweiler, will join Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at a White House state dinner on Feb. 11, 2014.
Obama said he and Hollande plan to discuss “opportunities to further strengthen the U.S.-France security and economic partnership.”
“The United States and France are close friends and allies, including through NATO, and our countries have worked together to support democracy, liberty and freedom at home and abroad for more than two centuries,” he said in a statement.