French President Emmanuel Macron called on Serbia for closer coordination of foreign policy decisions with the European Union.
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Serbia has been a candidate for EU membership since 2012.
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“Serbia should not doubt that its future is in the European Union and nowhere else. This is a strategic choice that is important to reaffirm… No vicissitudes should make you doubt this path. You are ready to make this strategic choice, and that is why we need to move together forward to fulfill our commitments… It is important that Serbia continues to implement this choice, in particular by more closely aligning our foreign policy decisions,” Macron said at a press conference with visiting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Paris. The broadcast was conducted on the page of the Elysee Palace on the social network X.
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According to Macron, amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, “a new era has begun, which is also the era of striving for the reunification of our Europe.”
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“The integration of Serbia meets our common interests in this Europe,” the French president added.
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He also stated that European integration is “not an imposed process, it is your sovereign choice.”
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“It is a choice to freely move towards a model that allows us to better defend our sovereignty together. I am convinced that Serbia plays an important role in strengthening the strategic autonomy of the European Union,” the French leader emphasized.
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The Serbian head of state arrived in France on April 7 on a working visit until April 9. Vucic said he hoped to reach an agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron to buy 12 new Rafale fighter jets and praised France’s air-to-ground missiles.
