On 4 December, the Jagiellonian University was visited by the Ambassador of France to Poland Frédéric Billet with his wife and the Consul-General of France in Kraków Frédéric de Touchet. They met with JU Rector Prof. Wojciech Nowak in Collegium Novum.
The participants of the meeting discussed issues related to cooperation between the Jagiellonian University and French institutions of higher education as well as French embassy and consulate general. They commented on the collaboration of a number of European higher education institutions within the framework of the European Universities Initiative spearheaded by French president Emmanuel Macron. Both the Jagiellonian University and the Parisian Sorbonne are the founding members of UNA Europa, a network of eight leading European universities. THe participants also discussed the possibilities of increasing student and staff mobility and establishing joint study programmes.
Frédéric Billet was born on 20 July 1959 in Besançon. He is a graduate of the Saint-Cyr Military Academy. He also studied military science and national defence and Slavic studies at the University of Montpellier and the Sorbonne. Previously, he served as the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary in Tallin (2009–2013), deputy head of Diplomatic Protocol (2013–2016) and head of Diplomatic Protocol (2016–2019). He has been awarded with the National Order of Merit and Order of the Legion of Honour. On 18 October 2019, he became the French ambassador to Poland.
