French President Emmanuel Macron has great ambitions regarding the role of EU and thinks the EU can resolve Kosovo issue on its own, along with Belgrade and Pristina, RTS reported.

This was said on the RTS special broadcast dedicated to the visit of President Macron to Serbia. Sonja Liht from the Fund of Political Excellence said a major step ahead was made in terms of bilateral relations. She added this step ahead should also be seen in a wider context, given that Macron mentioned Germany several times.

She pointed out the significance of the German-French relations and attempts to strengthen the European spirit. “It was about bilateral meeting, but Macron came here as a representative of the European Union,” Liht said.

Speaking about Belgrade-Pristina relations, Liht opined the fact that Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj welcomed the visit does not mean he has changed his mind. She noted Macron’s visit would have an impact since a very clear message was sent that the French President would engage more in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

Slobodan Zecevic from the Institute for European Studies assessed that Macron reinforced the stance that the EU “can carry out the entire thing” regarding Belgrade-Pristina relations. “He has strong ambitions in relation to the EU and believes the EU can resolve the Kosovo issue on its own, along with Belgrade and Pristina,” Zecevic said.

Although Macron did not directly mention Pristina’s tariffs, Zecevic thinks that his condemnation of unilateral acts relates to the tariffs, adding the condemnation was relatively harsh.