Eurasia Press & News
In politically difficult times for Serbia announced by its president Aleksandar Vučić, he is going on a two-day visit to Paris where he will talk with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
As Vučić says, they will discuss as many as 14 topics , among which are the military industry, artificial intelligence, but also nuclear energy, as “the only one that guarantees a safe supply of electricity”.
And where there is economic and any other cooperation, there is also politics, so the admission of Kosovo to the Council of Europe, the announced resolution on Srebrenica in the UN, the relationship with Russia and European integration will be discussed.
In his last address to the public, Vučić stated that he does not expect much when it comes to the Council of Europe because Macron’s hands are tied, but that he believes that France will express friendly intentions to help as much as it can.
Vučić stated at the extraordinary session of the government last week that some countries that recognized the independence of Kosovo might not support him in the SE and that it would not be only Hungary.
And whether France can and will be one of those and whether all other topics are in the function of this one, we asked our interlocutors.
Former ambassador to France Radomir Diklić tells Danas that Macron has prepared a special treatment for Vučić this time.
“The French president does not host a private dinner very often. The influential ‘Figaro’ specially announced this visit. These are all signals that France and Macron care about the success of the visit. But who sees success. If Vučić thinks that France will support Serbia in the UN or that he will be against Kosovo’s entry into the Council of Europe, I think he is mistaken. These are topics around which there is a consensus within the European Union, and it is hard to imagine that France will be the one to violate the consensus”, Diklić believes.
And he clarifies that if Greece, a “verified friend” through Mrs. Bakoyani, respected the will of the majority in the EU, Macron will not betray that will.
When it comes to the economic aspect of the visit, Diklić finds it interesting.
He states that France has one of the best nuclear technologies and the most atomic power plants, and that Vučić claims that we need four nuclear plants, and that someone should get that job.
When it comes to weapons, he says that we are a large producer of ammunition and equipment that is compatible with a large part of the weapons that are used, for example, in Ukraine.
“Vučić will find out whether France wants to take ownership of our dedicated industry, or whether it is rapidly “filling up” its war reserves with wine from the cellar of the Elysée Palace. When and what our public will find out about this visit – only Vučić knows”, says the former ambassador.
And Strahinja Subotić from the Center for European Policies believes that this visit of Vučić to Paris is more significant than the previous ones, because it comes at a time when the discussion is about whether the Pristina authorities will fight for membership in the Council of Europe.
According to his judgment, France has a reasonable position, because it recognizes Kosovo, but insists on the necessity of forming the ZSO, as a precondition.
He tells Danas that this topic will be one of the main topics during the meeting between the two presidents and that Vučić will insist that France use its power and emphasize that it is necessary for Pristina to form the Union of Serbian Municipalities before membership, but also to influence other member states. SE.
“Most of the countries of the Council of Europe recognize Kosovo and Pristina of course wants to fight to be a member, which confirmed their statehood, but from Serbia’s perspective it is a nerfer process, because the Pristina authorities did not fulfill what they committed to in the 2013 agreement, which is the ZSO “, said Subotic.
And he drew attention to the fact that we will see if he will succeed in this, because Germany is lobbying for Kosovo to be admitted, and only then to establish the ZSO.
Apart from this, he also expects discussions about current investment projects and cooperation between the two countries, especially in the context of the Expo exhibition.
“I believe that Serbia will invite France to continue investing here and thus become an increasingly important partner.” “Political and economic topics will definitely dominate in Paris,” added Subotic.
Subotic reminds that Macron is the loudest supporter of the position that Russia must be defeated and believes that he will say that Serbia must cooperate with the EU to a greater extent in terms of foreign policy harmonization.
“Many topics will be on the table and I believe Macron will be very clear.” Maybe not in public, but in private conversations he will certainly be direct when it comes to the French position. They will demand that situations like Banjska never happen again,” concludes Subotić.
