Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will Friday conduct an official visit to France where he is expected to hold discussions with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

The visit will present an opportunity for the French government to "reaffirm its support for Abbas, who is pillar of Palestinian democratic institutions, as well as for the government led by Salam Fayyad," foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said during a regular press briefing.

"In a particularly difficult situation, we would like to express our support to the efforts of Abbas with regard to finding a political solution to the current Palestinian crisis and his willingness to preserve the unity of the Palestinian people," the spokesman said.

Sarkozy announced direct budgetary support of 15 million euro's(about 20.2 million U.S. dollars) to help the Palestinian authority meet its obligations, the spokesman added.