Brussels - The foreign ministers of France and the Czech Republic said Monday they would be holding regular talks following extensive media reports suggesting strong disagreements between the former and current presidencies of the European Union.

"We were sometimes very surprised to discover in the press that we were in a bad mood, Karel (Schwarzenberg) and I. This is not true at all," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

"So we decided to see each other, or at least to talk to each other twice a week, very regularly and for a long period of time, on all the subjects," Kouchner said.

France passed the baton of the EU's six-month rotating presidency to the Czech Republic on January 1.

Even before the hand-over, French diplomats caused unease in Prague by suggesting that the presidency would not be up to the job at a time of economic and financial crisis.

Tension further escalated when French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested that French carmakers should move their plants in Central Europe back to France, prompting the Czechs to call an impromptu anti-protectionist summit for Sunday.

"There have been rumours in the newspapers and sometimes misunderstandings," Schwarzenberg said.

The minister said "lengthy discussions about French-Czech relations" had convinced them that "we have either the same or very close views."

Schwarzenberg and Kouchner are now planning a joint visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the two said at an unscheduled joint press conference ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. (dpa)