Serbian President Thanks Macron For Helicopters, Airport Modernization

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic thanked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who arrived in Belgrade, for Airbus helicopters delivered to the Serbian police and for modernization of the Serbian capital's airport by a French company, a Sputnik correspondent reported from Belgrade on Monday

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th July, 2019) Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic thanked his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who arrived in Belgrade, for Airbus helicopters delivered to the Serbian police and for modernization of the Serbian capital's airport by a French company, a Sputnik correspondent reported from Belgrade on Monday.

The visit of the French president to Serbia is the first since Jacques Chirac's in 2001. As many as 578 local and foreign journalists have been accredited to the event and 5,000 policemen are ensuring security in Belgrade. Upon arrival in Belgrade, Macron and Vucic opened a plaque at the Nikola Tesla airport dedicated to the start of its modernization by French company Vinci Airports.

"Here, next to the helicopters [three of the nine Airbus H145 ordered by Serbia] that we received from our French-German partners, here at the gates of Belgrade, at the Nikola Tesla airport, operated by the French company Vinci, I want to thank you and say that this is only the beginning of our exceptional cooperation," Vucic said.

It is expected that the main themes of the visit will be the frozen dialogue between the authorities of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo, as well as Serbia's European integration.

During the visit, the delegations of Serbia and France will sign over 20 agreements in economy, culture and security. Serbian Acting Assistant Defense Minister Nenad Miloradovic said earlier that five of 20 agreements to be signed are regarding defense industry cooperation, including memorandums of understanding in production and operation of radar and electronic systems in Serbia. Another agreement stipulates deliveries of Mistral missiles from France, which are planned to be integrated into the Serbian hybrid air defense system PASARS.

The program of Macron's two-day visit also includes laying wreaths and flowers at the monuments to the heroes of World War I and French-Serbian friendship and a walk around Kalemegdan (Belgrade Fortress). He and Vucic will also jointly address students of the Regional Youth Cooperation Office.