At the beginning of the meeting with her French colleagues, Committee Chairperson Elvira Kovacs pointed out that full membership in the EU is our country’s strategic commitment and foreign policy goal, thanking France for supporting Serbia on its European path.

She pointed out that, regardless of the application of the new EU methodology in the accession process, in Serbia’s case, no progress has been made and no new clusters have been opened since the end of 2021, which has resulted in the citizens' fatigue, stagnation and a drop in their support for the EU integration process. Kovacs added that one gets the impression that other issues are now the focus of our country's European integration process, and that instead of the rule of law and freedom of the media, the focus is on the new geo-political situation caused by the conflict in Ukraine, normalisation of relations between Belgrade and Pristina, as well as the introduction of the idea of a European Political Community, which Serbia as a candidate country supports, but which cannot replace full membership in the EU. She explained the reasons why Serbia did not impose sanctions on the Russian Federation in detail to her French colleagues.

In addition to the above, the meeting with the French senators, which Committee members Zagorka Aleksic, Milan Radin, Natan Albahari, Ana Beloica Martic and Dubravka Filipovski also participated in, then touched on the bilateral relations between Serbia and France, parliamentary cooperation between the two countries and the problem of Serbia's exposure to the migratory processes, absence of positive evaluations by EU member states after the implemented reform processes in Serbia, which remain in the shadow of other events, the issue of Serbia’s excessively long process of European integration and the importance of understanding Serbia's position and attitudes by European partners, in order to obtain a clearer and better picture of its position.

Committee members also informed the French senators about the scope of work of the European Integration Committee, how the MPs bring the benefits of Serbia's membership in the EU closer to the citizens, the Committee’s cooperation with civil society, as well as the reform processes currently being conducted and those already completed, especially regarding the Constitutional amendment and the adoption of a set of judicial laws, which improved the independence of the judiciary in Serbia. The Committee members presented the positions of their parliamentary groups concerning the introduction of sanctions against the Russian Federation, as well as their positions on aligning with the EU's foreign and security policy and their opinions concerning the formation of the European Political Community and the stagnation of the EU enlargement process, as well as the reasons for the citizens’ mistrust of in the enlargement process.

The head of the French Senate delegation Senator Olivier Cigolotti pointed out that this kind of meeting between parliamentarians is important for the functioning of European parliamentary democracy, expressing his understanding of Serbia's position and past that leads it to think the way it does, but also reiterated that it is very important for his country that anyone who wants to join the EU should fully agree with its foreign policy. He declared the discussions with his Serbian colleagues a high-quality exchange of ideas, openness and transparency, which will contribute to a better understanding of Serbia's position regarding its accession to the EU.

Senators Helene Conway-Mouret, Michelle Greaume and Bernard Fournier, members of the French Senate’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Armed Forces, also took part in the meeting.