PARIS (AP) — The Netherlands' finance minister has met with his French counterpart in a bid to ease tensions between the two countries over the Dutch government's surprise announcement this week that it had bought a stake in the Air France-KLM airline alliance without informing Paris.

Wopke Hoekstra and Bruno Le Maire held hurriedly-arranged talks Friday in Paris and afterward both ministers pledged to cooperate to strengthen the alliance.

Le Maire, who described the discussions as "frank and clear," said the two countries would work together "to improve the competitiveness of the group Air France-KLM and to make Air France-KLM a big success."

Hoekstra said the Dutch government purchase of 14 percent of shares in the alliance move showed its commitment to the business and underscored that commitment to the French government.