Macron ready to support return of Serbian enclaves to Kosovo - media
French President Emmanuel Macron is ready to support the division of Kosovo along ethnic lines as a possible compromise between Belgrade and Pristina. At the same time, Angela Merkel does not currently share the opinion of her French colleague on this issue, and the leaders of the European Union do not yet have a common vision of the situation.
France-Presse reported this on the eve of the negotiations between the presidents of Serbia and France.
"Paris is open to this approach, while Berlin feels it could open a Pandora's box of nationalism," French journalists say.
AFP also states that the second sensitive issue will be the prospect of Serbia's membership in the European Union. Let us recall that Macron himself has previously repeatedly stated the impossibility of EU expansion in the near future. There are no plans for any country to join the European Union until 2025, European Commissioner Johannes Hahn previously warned.
“President Macron supports the European perspective of the Balkans, but also says that this accession will only happen after the reform of the EU, which would be a good solution for Serbia. The Elysee Palace believes that the EU, due to its hard work with 28 countries, is currently unable to accept a new enlargement,” writes AFP, adding that Macron is nevertheless coming to Belgrade with the aim of “strengthening weakened relations” with Serbia.
“Paris and Belgrade must also overcome the awkward situation of the failure of the French protocol on November 11 last year at a ceremony in Paris to mark the centenary of the 1918 World War I ceasefire, which angered Serbia. Then President Aleksandar Vucic was placed in the second-tier group of guests, and the so-called President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, took a place on the main podium along with Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Another disagreement was the refusal of the French side in April 2017 to hand over the “Prime Minister of Kosovo” Ramush Haradinaj to the Serbian judicial system, where he faces charges of war crimes during the conflict in Kosovo,” concludes France-Presse.
At the same time, France is not going to force Belgrade to recognize the independence of Kosovo, says Jean-Christophe Buison, editor of Figaro.
“Macron has shown that he wants to take the initiative and take new steps in solving the Kosovo problem. France has recognized an independent Kosovo, but Macron will not put pressure on Serbia until the Serbs in this province are fully equal with the Albanians, until they enjoy all rights, and until they live in peace and security,” the French journalist said TV channel RTV.
“I think Macron’s visit should make up for past incidents,” Buison emphasized.
Official Paris also strongly opposes visa liberalization for Albanians, together with Belgium and the Netherlands. The reason for Paris' fears is the threat of another wave of emigrants professing Islam.
“Serbia can expect a lot from this visit, economically and politically. First of all, we should expect continued economic cooperation, because a delegation of businessmen will arrive with Macron, and in addition to new economic contracts, we can expect the start of concrete work on the construction of the metro and the issue of further French investments in the infrastructure and energy sector of Serbia... When it comes to Kosovo, Macron may come up with a proposal to cancel the 100% tariff imposed unilaterally by the Kosovo authorities and resume dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. France and Germany, if they can really put pressure on Pristina, could lead to the abolition of the tariff. Although Pristina only listens to America, Europe is financially and politically present in Kosovo,” expert Slobodan Zecevic from the Institute of European Studies said in an interview with Informer.
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