BELGRADE, April 12 (Xinhua) -- France is supporting Serbia on every step of its path towards full membership of the European Union (EU), and looks forward to future joint economic cooperation projects, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said during his meetings with Serbian officials on Thursday.
Le Drian arrived in Belgrade in the afternoon and met his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and President Aleksandar Vucic to prepare for the announced visit of French President Emmanuel Macron by the end of the year.
Vucic and Le Drian talked about bilateral and economic relations, Serbia's path towards membership in EU as well as improvement of cooperation in all fields, including military-technical cooperation, as well as the construction project for a subway in Belgrade, in which France has been showing interest in past several years, the president's office stated.
Vucic said that Serbia now has the financial capabilities to speed-up the process in order for the construction of subway to begin in 2020, while Le Drian reminded that France already invested significant means in order to participate in the project.
Le Drian voiced support of France and its president Macron to Serbia's European integration and expressed belief that the country will conduct required reforms and advance further in that process.
At a separate meeting, Brnabic thanked Le Drian for French support to Western Balkans that offers an additional incentive to regional cooperation, adding that France is one of the most important economic partners of Serbia and an important investor in Serbian economy.
Le Drian and Brnabic agreed that Macron's visit to Serbia means that both countries are dedicated to intensifying high-level dialogue, the government release said.
According to the release, Le Drian promised Brnabic that France will continue to support Serbia in the process of European integration and stressed "in the future, a great attention should be directed to reforms in the area of the rule of law and judiciary, as the most important issues in the accession negotiations".
Brnabic concluded that full EU membership is Serbia's strategic priority.