Donor conference to be held in July

BELGRADE - The regional donor conference for rebuilding the flood-hit areas, to be organised by France in collaboration with the EU, will be held in July, French Ambassador to Serbia Francois-Xavier Deniau has announced.

Preparations for this conference are making progress in collaboration with the EU, and it will be held in July, Deniau said late Thursday at a reception commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of World War I, which was also attended by Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic.

The exact date and location of the conference have not been specified yet, Deniau told Tanjug.

Addressing the guests, he said that Nikolic and French President Francois Hollande recently agreed in Paris that the donor conference be initiated by France.

The conference is proof that the Serbian-French friendship is rooted in history, but that it is also reflected by the common future of an increasingly close alliance within the European family, Deniau said.

Nikolic thanked France for assistance provided to Serbia during the recent floods and, in particular, Hollande for his personal efforts to organise a donor conference in aid of reconstruction.

The conference is a natural and expected effort of friends, for which Serbia will always be grateful, Nikolic said.

Photo Tanjug/R. Prelic