French Ambassador to Serbia Frederic Mondoloni said President Emmanuel Macron wants that France plays greater role in Serbia and the region, B92 reports.

According to Mondoloni media allegations on the future appointment of a special French envoy for the Balkans should be viewed in that context.

“President Macron wants that France plays its full role in the region and in Serbia (…). And for two years already he is very much engaged that France gets the place it belongs to it in the region, and in particular in friendly Serbia,” Mondoloni said in a press conference.

Ursula von der Leyen, former German Defense Minister and a prominent member of Germany's Christian Democrats, talked to N1's Ivana Dragicevic on Tuesday evening shortly after the European Parliament confirmed Von der Leyen as the new European Commission president.

Asked to comment on the future composition of the European Commission, especially regarding officials from Eastern Europe and possible commissioners from those countries, Von der Leyen said that there should be a "geographic balance" in the future Commission.

Former French Minister of European Affairs and current member of the European Parliament (EP) Nathalie Loiseau said on Tuesday the Balkan region “was not at all ready” to join the European Union, as the bloc was not fit to take in those countries, the Paris France Inter reported as carried by BETA news agency.

Finland took over the European Union six-months rotating Presidency from Romania on Monday and set the sustainability as its main goal, the Beta news agency reported.

During his country’s term, Finish Prime Minister Antti Rinne said that “the future of the EU should be social, economic and ecological sustainability.”

US President Donald Trump extended a warning from 2001 about the Western Balkans as a threat to his state and notified the Congress that it had not changed, the Beta news agency reported.

President George W. Bush first sent the message of the National Emergency with Respect to the Western Balkans on June 26, 18 years ago, which was renewed in 2003 due to problems in the then ‘Macedonia’.

Political agreement in the Western Balkans should be rewarded, the European Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn said on Monday and called on the bloc’s foreign ministers to start accession talks with North Macedonia, the FoNet news agency reported.

Hahn added the move would be an essential signal to the whole region.

The European Union countries consider a non-paper regarding the bloc's enlargement to include the Western Balkans as still a credible option, with 13 member states supporting the idea, Radio Free Europe (RFE) reported on Thursday.

RFE had insight into the document which, among other things, said that EU should confirm its explicit dedication to the Western Balkans integration and that there was no "a plan B" for the region.

European Parliament Committee for Cooperation with Serbia Chairman Eduard Kukan believes that inclusion of Russia and the US in the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue would end it.

The EU and its foreign policy chief had to show much more firmness and determination in the enlargement process and, above all, in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina; the lack of leadership was particularly striking in the absence of a response to Pristina's unacceptable tariffs (on goods from central Serbia) Kukan told Belgrade-based Vecernje Novosti daily.

Europe and the US have tried to put the Western Balkans in order but were unable to do so, and that’s why the region needs a new approach which will recognise the seriousness of the problem and accept that a solution will demand a long time and substantial means, experts agree, the Beta news agency reported on Wednesday.