French envoy talks ties with Serbia, addresses controversy

France supports Serbia’s EU accession and hopes that discussion about its membership candidacy will begin in October, French Ambassador to Serbia Francois Xavier Deniau told B92 in Belgrade on Thursday.

French envoy talks ties with Serbia, addresses controversy

France supports Serbia’s EU accession and hopes that discussion about its membership candidacy will begin in October, French Ambassador to Serbia Francois Xavier Deniau told B92 in Belgrade on Thursday.

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Marking July 14, France’s national holiday, the diplomat said that the two countries were "bound not only by historical friendship", but also a joint future within the EU.

“France never suggested the renaming of Serbian cultural heritage (in Kosovo) to Kosovo's heritage,” Deniau also told B92 TV's Ljubica Gojgić, addressing a recent controversy related to the Serb Orthodox Christian heritage in the province, whose ethnic Albanians unilaterally declared independence three years ago - a proclamation that France recognized.

The following interview was translated from a Serbian language transcript

B92: Mr. ambassador, your visit to the Serbian-French friendship monument in Kalemegdan is part of the celebration of France’s national holiday. Is that friendship manifested today, is it a myth, a part of history, or does it still exist today?

Deniau: I think that memory of historical events is important. That monument and what it represents is important for the French who know Serbia. It is not only a symbol of allies fighting in the First World War, but it also reminds us of all those people who at the time educated themselves at universities in France and later contributed to the development of a modern Serbia. Therefore I see great symbolism in that monument. It is clear today that it is not enough to only remember the past. Our relations and our friendship exist even today and they will exist in the future. And the present and the future, the way we look at it, is mainly our joint affiliation to Europe in the geographical sense and then, hopefully, our future within the European Union where Serbia will, we have estimated, take its place in a few years. I think that one should think about how partnership between Serbia and France will develop in that context, about topics that we should think about together. I think that there are many. On the economic level, both in our country and in Serbia, agriculture and rural areas have an important place. Also, science is important in both our countries. I am very impressed with my meetings with many scientists. I have visited the Vinča Institute where extraordinary scientists work, who manage to maintain their passion for science despite modest funding. I believe that you share our position that science is a part of national identity and sovereignty and that it therefore requires budget appropriations. There are, therefore, many elements that we can build friendly relations on, aside from memories kept by our elderly.

B92: You do not mention the political level, intentionally or by accident? It seems that the level of cooperation is at its lowest in that area.

Deniau: Our relations on the political level are excellent. I had the honor to take part in organizating President Boris Tadić’s visit to France. That was the first official visit of a Serbian president in 100 years. The (Serbian) king visited France before that. The visit went very well. A lunch and talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy were organized at the Elysee Palace, that were very important and held in a friendly atmosphere. I think that on the official level we have relations full of understanding and serious consideration of the future.

B92: Your excellency, what does that exactly mean? Translated to layman's terms, does it mean that France will, for example, support a decision to grant Serbia EU candidate status this fall? Will France advocate setting the date for the beginning of accession negotiations?

Deniau: The EU candidacy is primarily Serbia's decision – of its citizens and authorities. That is a commitment that we appreciate because we believe that it is in Europe's interest for all Western Balkans countries, starting with Serbia, to become Union's members. France politically supports Serbia's request to start negotiations with the EU. We have repeated that on several levels and we are hoping that a process that would allow for a quick solution to the candidacy issue could begin in mid-October. There is no dilemma here, we have said it quite clearly. What does it concretely mean? It is not enough to only make a decision at the EU Council of Ministers' level, but it is also necessary to help a candidate country prepare itself on several levels. The EU itself needs to prepare as well. You know, I listen to those stories about enlargement fatigue, but what is really going on? The decision on Croatia's accession was made last year in the middle of the financial crisis, the most difficult since the Union was created. That's a sign of confidence that we have in the future.

B92: Do you know what they are saying here, in Serbia? They are saying that things went that way because Croatia had genuine, friendly support from Germany on that path. Can Serbia have such a friend in France?

Deniau: We support Serbia. When it comes to Croatia, all the necessary work was completed there and that is why it was accepted. We tell our friends in Serbia that if you want to join a club you have to respect its rules. There are reforms that need to be implemented, reconciliation in the region is necessary... All that is well known. I think that Serbia has approached the job with a lot of energy and we see positive progress, especially in the last few years. For example, not only that the dialogue with Priština had started, but it has also given concrete results in the citizens’ interest. That is very good and we hope that it will continue.

B92: A group of German MPs were recently here and in a way sent a message that Serbia will have to recognize Kosovo’s independence if it wants to join the EU. Is this also France’s position?

Deniau: I did see that a lot of attention was given to the German MPs’ statements in the media. It made the front pages of newspapers. However, there was a French parliamentary delegation here last week, that took part in the OSCE conference. Our delegation’s head said quite clearly that we supported Serbia’s EU accession and that recognition of Kosovo independence was not a condition. Only a short article appeared in the press.

B92: Perhaps because it doesn’t ring true?

Deniau: Well, I cannot speak on behalf of French MPs but the statement was clear.

B92: You said that both countries were committed to history, tradition and culture. We had a misunderstanding exactly in that area. There were strong reactions here to France’s initiative to rename Serbia's cultural, historical and religious heritage in Kosovo to "Kosovo's heritage". Why does France insist on that?

Deniau: It should be clearly said that there are few countries that have worked so much as France in order for UNESCO to protect the cultural and religious heritage located in Kosovo. We played a decisive role there! Unfortunately, what you are saying now is completely untrue. We are perfectly aware that this is Serbian heritage, that I personally know and respect very much, because those are admirable monuments. We are absolutely convinced that those monuments belong to the Serbian Orthodox Church. I really don’t understand the question.

B92: What then was the point of the French initiative at UNESCO?

Deniau: There was no initiative, this was a routine resolution prepared by the UNESCO Secretariat that the Russian delegation would not accept. We proposed a status-neutral compromise. That is the usual way of doing things in the organization.

B92: What about the proposal to refer to this heritage as Kosovo's?

Deniau: No, never.

B92: No? That means that Serbia’s delegation and delegations of Brazil, Mexico, China, Nigeria all got it wrong, because they voted against the proposal.

Deniau: No, only Russia was against. Everybody else accepted it.

B92: This is a new interpretation of what happened in Paris. Let’s make it clear - there was no French initiative to rename monasteries of Gračanica, Visoki Dečani or the Peć Patriarchate to Kosovo’s cultural heritage?

Deniau: That’s right, there wasn’t.

B92: You will once again meet with Serbia’s officials at a reception on Thursday. What are you going to tell them?

Deniau: I will repeat that 2011 is a year of excellent relations between France and Serbia’s excellent relations. Not only because of the presidential visit but also because of the military cooperation agreement that we signed and agreement on strategic partnership. That’s our way of helping Serbia join the EU. We give contribution to Serbia’s preparations for EU accession with through our know-how, our administration, through our companies. This is a deal for the future. I think that the key message is that we have a joint future, we believe that it is in the European Union, and we are doing a lot to help Serbia in the European Union integration process.