Printer Friendly Version SELAKOVIC: A LOT MORE ATTENTION IS PAID TO THE VOICE OF SERBIA IN PARIS TODAY @ 21 December 2021 09:44 AM

At the end of his two-day official visit to France, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Selakovic said that Serbia's voice was being listened to much more carefully in Paris today, as a result of the policy pursued by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his personal relationship with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Summing up his visit to France, Minister Selakovic said that it was exceptionally good and useful and that he talked with the officials of that country about the development of Serbian-French cooperation in the political and economic field as well as in culture, while also discussing the situation in the region.

The Head of Serbian diplomacy stated that the most important part of his visit was the meeting he had with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, who he described as a serious diplomat, and a man who showed great readiness to hear us out on issues of importance to Serbia, and who commended Serbia on its successes in the reform process in recent years.

Minister Selakovic said that his French counterpart showed great readiness to listen to our views on issues of importance for Serbia, especially when it comes to the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, and the situation in the entire region.

"We are proud not only of our former historical alliance, but also of what France and Serbia are doing today, especially in terms of strengthening the economic and trade cooperation. In the first ten months of this year only, we have already matched the economic and trade exchange we recorded in the entire previous year, amounting to 1.1 billion euros, so it is certain that by the end of this year we will exceed 1.2 billion and reach 1.3 billion euros", said the Head of Serbian diplomacy.

Minister Selakovic stated that he also had good meetings with French parliamentarians, both with members of the Senate and with members of the National Assembly.

"We discussed the development of Serbian-French cooperation in the political, economic and cultural fields, but also the situation in the region. What is important here, and what came as a result of the President's policy and personal relationship formed with the President of the French Republic, is the fact that today the voice of Serbia is being listened to much more carefully and a lot more attentively here in Paris. We still have a lot of work to do on the promotion of these relations", said the Head of Serbian diplomacy.

In terms of economic cooperation, Minister Selakovic stated that the presence of French investors on the Serbian market was increasing, and that during his visit to France he met with the CEO of French company "Vinci", which was granted a concession to manage the Belgrade airport.

Minister Selakovic said that this company managed many airports, from Japan to Brazil, where it was developing one of its biggest projects, and that, like us, it was proud of what it was doing at the "Nikola Tesla" airport.