At summit with regional leaders, French president says thoughts of enlargement have ‘weakened Europe.’
SOFIA — French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday sounded a skeptical note on enlarging the European Union to include countries from the western Balkans — at a summit meant to strengthen ties between the region and the EU.
Serbia sticks to its policy, and everyone thinking to the contrary must decide whether they're our friends and partners, or will work against Serbia.
Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said this on Thursday, on the occasion of media reports that reported on France planning to send protest notes to countries that withdrew their recognition of Kosovo's self-proclaimed independence.
The headlines in Serbian media about French President Emmanuel Macron closing EU's door to Serbia are not correct, says French Ambassador Frederic Mondoloni.
Macron told the European parliament on Tuesday that he will "only support an enlargement when there is first a deepening and a reform of our Europe."
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian arrived in Belgrade on Thursday afternoon, where he later met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
After the meeting, Vucic and Le Drian addressed the media.
They said they agreed that a "frozen conflict" was not a good solution for Kosovo, and that the issue should be solved.
Srpska Lista is against an initiative to revoke the Special Court and the stance of Serb political representatives about it is clear and unequivocal Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communities and Returns, Dalibor Jevtic told representatives of French-German delegation visiting Kosovo, Serbian media reported.
Jevtic met yesterday the Germany's Envoy for South-Eastern Europe, Turkey and the EFTA States, Christian Hellbach, and the Head of the French Foreign Ministry's Western Balkans Department, Thomas Bertin.
German and French envoys are adding to diplomatic pressure on Kosovo not to try to stop the new Specialist Chambers – which will try former Kosovo guerrillas – from coming into operation.
A joint German-French delegation met Kosovo officials on Wednesday to voice concern about recent failed attempts by Kosovo MPs to revoke the law establishing the Special Court, set up to try Kosovo Albanian war crimes.
Russian and Chinese ambassadors spoke in favor of continuing the UNMIK mission in Kosovo, during Tuesday's UN Security Council session dedicated to its work.
At the same time, representatives of France, Great Britain and the United States called for it be abolished.
Russia's Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya said Moscow disagrees with the "very optimistic assessment" presented during the meeting by the Kosovo ambassador to the United States.
Path of illegal arms goes from Kosovo to the European countries, as the KLA has the highest concentration of armament that arrived in the Balkans during nineties from the sovereign states, including France as well, Sputnik daily reported today.
A serial of terrorist attacks that stroke France and fact that the arms from the Balkans was used in one of them, made the French President Emmanuel Macron to point his finger first at Serbia, then the Balkans and to seek better control of light weapons in this area.
A delegation of Serbia’s National Assembly on Thursday left a session of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, held in Strasbourg, France, in protest.
The move was prompted by the decision of a French court earlier in the day to reject Serbia’s request to extradite Ramush Haradinaj.
According to a statement, the Serbian delegation “condemned the disgraceful decision of the French court.”
Serbian Ambassador in France will be called to urgent consultations.
The Prime Minister said that there will be no interruption of diplomatic relations with France, but that will be sent a clear message with thinking about the decision of the court in Colmar.