French President Emanuel Macron set to visit Serbia on July 15 and 16, according to Belgrade-based Vecernje Novosti, wants to show that Paris is “still an important player on the world's political and security scene”.
President Aleksandar Vucic spoke today with political representatives of Serbs and the most important Serbian institutions in Kosovo and Metohija, RTS reports. We have prepared strong measures of limited character as a response to Pristina’s behavior, however we would wait for the meeting in Paris, Vucic told RTS, after the meeting.
Serbian Foreign Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic does not expect significant progress in resolving the Kosovo issue at the Paris summit that will be held on July 1. The meeting will be organized by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Dacic expects pressure on Serbia to continue, but says his country has become accustomed to pressure, and that "nothing will come out that" - when it comes to recognizing Kosovo - its southern province - as independent.
French President Emanuel Macron should visit Serbia in the next couple of weeks, while a precise date should be known soon, Serbian media report.
This was stated by French Ambassador in Belgrade Frederic Mondoloni.
“I work hard on agreements with Belgrade regarding the new date, and I hope to propose a concrete date soon. I expect the visit to take place in the coming weeks,” Mondoloni told Vecernje Novosti daily.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had a phone conversation on Monday afternoon. The reason was Macron's wish to postpone his visit to Serbia due to the political crisis in France, Tanjug said it learned earlier in the day.
Macron was scheduled to visit Serbia on December 5-6.
Later on Monday, Vucic confirmed that the French president's visit had been postponed "because of the situation in France," without specifying a new date for it.
The Élysée Palace has officially announced the visit of French President Emanuel Macron to Serbia on 5th and 6th December, Tanjug news agency reports.
Some French media report on the planned visit as well, saying its main aim is to strengthen friendship between Paris and Belgrade.
Belgrade-based daily Blic writes today that French President Emanuel Macron is not giving up on his visit to Serbia and that he is coming to “help” with Kosovo.
According to the daily, Macron would visit Belgrade on 5 and 6 December, while the protest and unrests on the streets of Paris related to the increase of fuel price, did not deter him to change his plan. Experts also said the fact he chose to stay overnight in Belgrade is a positive message.
Macron is scheduled to meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and following the meeting press conference would be held.
President Aleksandar Vucic has expressed his gratitude to the President of France Emmanuel Macron for the personal letter he sent to Serbia. Vucic assessed the letter as a good announcement and a good signal before Macron's visit to Serbia.
In a statement to TV Pink, he said this was "not a circular letter" that would have gone to everyone who attended the (scandalous) ceremony in Paris (on Nov. 11) - "but about a special letter for Serbia, handed over by the president of France."
It is assumed that French President Emmanuel Macron could support the idea of "border correction" which should resolve the Belgrade-Pristina dispute.
This is reported on Monday by the French radio RFI, which states that the idea is to "encourage Belgrade to recognize the independence of Kosovo."