'French base' for German troops

German soldiers have worked with French troops for years

German troops will be stationed in France for the first time since World War II, under plans reportedly being drawn up by both countries.

A battalion is likely to be based in Alsace-Lorraine - a region France and Germany have fought over in the past.

A French defence ministry spokesman said Paris had agreed to the proposal made by Germany earlier this year, according to the AFP news agency.

It is thought some 500 soldiers could be posted somewhere in eastern France.

The German magazine Der Spiegel says the border town of Colmar is the likely location, but the French media has reported Strasbourg, Metz or Bitche as possible bases.

The soldiers would be part of the Franco-German brigade set up in 1989, which is already about 5,000 troops strong.

Nearly half of those are French servicemen based in south-west Germany.

Symbol of unity

According to Der Spiegel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel proposed sending the battalion after Paris said it planned to withdraw some of its troops from Germany, as part of a wide-ranging programme of defence cuts.

She reportedly said it would be a "shame" to dismantle a key symbol of Franco-German unity and a potential building block in a wider European defence and security policy.

Alsace-Lorraine was annexed by Germany after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, but was reclaimed by France after World War I.

It was seized by Nazi Germany in 1940, but reverted to France upon Germany's defeat in 1945.