France remains committed to having good relations with Serbia and will remain its friend, outgoing French Ambassador to Serbia Fredric Mondoloni told FoNet news agency. He underlined that the recent visit to Belgrade by French President Emmanuel Macron gave a fresh impulse to the development of the two countries’ relations, adding that his successor would be arriving very soon because Paris does not want to leave a vacuum following the visit.

Mondoloni noted the Serbian people realized that Macron came to Belgrade with a message of interest and respect for Serbia and a readiness to listen. He said he was leaving to take up new duties and his departure was not a sign that France would be less engaged in Serbia. According to him, political relations between Belgrade and Paris have advanced along with economic relations.

We support Serbia’s progress towards the European Union, he said, adding that it’s important to turn to the future. He would also like to see reforms being implement quicker, especially in the media, fight against corruption, the independence of the judiciary and respect for institutions.

Ambassador Mondoloni singled out EU membership and solving the issue of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue as the two most important things. He noted the President Macron feels that a solution for Belgrade-Pristina relations must be based on a compromise and added the issue is keeping Serbia and the Serbian people from turning to the future.