PARIS

France voiced its support Friday for Serbia’s EU membership bid, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot saying Paris is in favour of opening the so-called “3rd chapter cluster” in Serbia’s accession negotiations.

“Serbia has a place within the EU and shares a common destiny with the Western Balkans,” Barrot said at a news conference in Belgrade with his Serbian counterpart, Marko Djuric. “We want a united European continent.”

Barrot stressed that France will continue to back Serbia’s EU ambitions, and that Serbia could strengthen its independence and sovereignty within the EU framework. He reaffirmed France’s commitment to the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

Barrot also underlined the need for a stronger, more democratic EU, capable of withstanding pressures, noting that it cannot be achieved without the involvement of the Western Balkans.

He expressed France’s support and solidarity with Denmark, stressing that France, if in a similar position, would look to its EU and NATO allies for support.

Barrot condemned state violence against demonstrators in Iran as “unbearable, intolerable and inhumane.”

He said those responsible for “the most severe repression in Iran’s modern history” would not go unpunished.