Germany's new Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, is marking his first full day in office by visiting France and Britain to reassure them he is committed to preserving close ties and is against any major changes in German policy.

Mr Fischer, the co-leader of the environmentalist Green Party, is a former campaigner for nuclear disarmament, but is now at odds with radicals in his party who want Germany to leave NATO.

Within hours of being sworn in on Tuesday, the new centre-left government voted to send two-hundred German observers to Kosovo.

After his talks in London, Mr Fischer is flying on to Poland to discuss its application for European Union membership.