France will, as of now, be more active in resolving problems in Western Balkan countries, French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday in Brdo Pri Kranju, Slovenia, where he was a guest in the summit of regional presidents, organised at the initiative of the Croatian and Slovenian Presidents Ivo Josipovic and Borut Pahor.
After talks with the Slovenian president, Hollande told a news conference this was a sign of France's more active role in the former Yugoslav countries.
According to him, France was active during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina where 84 French soldiers were killed and in Kosovo. He added, however, that diplomatic activities had not always been as visible as military ones.
France now plans to assume a more active role in the Balkans, Hollande said.
Explaining the objective of today's meeting, Slovenia's Pahor said the Slovenian-Croatian dispute about the sea border had been a serious warning showing where outstanding bilateral issues in the region could lead.
The solution has showed us it is necessary to continue with this practice so that the region, which has so far sparked fears rather than opportunities, could become more appealing to the enlargement plans, Pahor said.
Hollande underlined Europe's commitment to Balkan prospects. Even a decade after the Zagreb summit, at which Croatia opened negotiations on its Stabilisation and Association Agreement, Paris has the same position regarding EU enlargement.
If it has already been decided that the European Union should include the entire European continent, then we must not leave out a large territory such as the Balkans, Hollande said adding that France was not planning to make a profit out of it. We cannot get anything in return, but we want residents of the region to profit from our efforts, he said.
Regional cooperation and reconciliation are critical for Euro-integration processes, he said. If there is not security, there can be no integration either, Hollande added.
Although the last EU summit focused on progress in relations between Serbia and Kosovo, words of congratulations on EU entry were extended to Croatia, and Macedonia was not addressed, France is willing to, based on its good relations with Greece, mediate so that a solution to the issue of Macedonia's official name could be found. We must not neglect this issue, Hollande said.
At the summit at Brdo Pri Kranju it was agreed that the next summit be held in Zagreb, but there were no official announcements regarding the date of the summit.
Apart from Josipovic, Pahor and Hollande, the summit was also attended by presidents Gjorge Ivanov of Macedonia, Zeljko Komsic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Filip Vujanovic of Montenegro, Bujar Nishani of Albania, Atifete Jahjaga of Kosovo and Tomislav Nikolic of Serbia.
Hollande told a news conference the crisis in the eurozone was over and that it was evident that no country was leaving the eurozone.
Now we have to find our way our of recession and figures show that we are doing that, he added.
Pahor expressed confidence his country would overcome the crisis on its own, without assistance. He added that the European Commission had positively assessed the stabilisation programme. Slovenia is moving to the right direction. The recovery of banks is critical to get money for new fiscal encouragement, Pahor said announcing the continuation of privatisation.
