Committee Chairman Nenad Canak said that EU accession is Serbia’s foreign policy priority and the majority of the MPs support Serbia’s European integration. Speaking of popular support, according to the latest polls 52% of the Serbian citizens endorse European integration, which is 3% more than before.

Nenad Canak said he was very pleased by the recent opening of two new negotiation chapters, 33 and 13, adding that since the onset of the talks Serbia has opened 14 of the 35 EU negotiation chapters, two being temporarily closed, and has fully prepared three new negotiating positions. The dynamic of the talks should in his opinion pick up speed so that all the chapters can be closed by 2023 and Serbia could gain entry in the EU by 2025 which the Enlargement Strategy has recognized as a possible prospect.

French Ambassador Frederic Mondoloni said that France supports Serbia’s European integration, adding that accepting the Western Balkan countries into its midst would make the Union complete. Mondoloni also said that before enlargement the European Union should be reformed to get ready to respond to the global challenges of economic development, climate change, migrations and terrorism.

The officials agreed that Serbia and France have good bilateral relations, adding that 2019 will mark 180 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.