Barrot: France on Serbia's side, we support its aspiration to join EU

BELGRADE - "France is on your side," French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot said on Friday in Belgrade after a meeting with Serbian FM Marko Djuric, and added that his country supported Serbia's aspirations to become an EU member.

Barrot noted that the message of his visit to Belgrade was a dual one - a message of friendship between Serbia and France that was reflected in structural cooperation between the two economies and the two peoples, as well as a message confirming that Serbia belonged in the EU, a strong and powerful union that would enable France as well as Serbia to face the challenges ahead.

He said France wanted the Western Balkans to be a part of Europe.

"There are certain criteria regarding accession, and we want to say that France is on your side. Certain tasks related to REM (Regulatory Authority on Electronic Media) need to be completed and recommendations regarding the judiciary must be taken into account. It is a long path, but work on it is underway. France has given a positive response to the need to open Cluster 3 (in Serbia's accession talks)," Barrot said, noting that the European Commission itself had said the conditions for opening the cluster had been met.

He noted that a Serbia-France strategic partnership, established 15 years ago, was developing intensively in transport infrastructure, sustainable development, waste water treatment, artificial intelligence (AI) and defence.

He said the meeting with Djuric had addressed new opportunities for cooperation in a civilian nuclear programme.

"With the minister of economy, we have reached agreement on the Belgrade metro project. For several years now, we have been working on development of Line 1, and we will be working on Line 2 as well. We signed a letter of intent on a Veliko Selo waste water collector," Barrot said.

He also noted that the French company Bull SAS would deliver a supercomputer to Serbia.

"All as part of our strategic partnership," he added.

Barrot announced that he and Djuric would draw up a road map that would make the strategic partnership even more significant and include cooperation in AI, partnerships with African countries and France's participation in EXPO 2027 Belgrade.

He added that the French development agency had budget funds for environmental transition and was ready to support Serbia's energy independence.

Speaking about the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Barrot said the parties needed to deliver on their commitments.