ZAGREB, 1 January 2021 – France took over the six-month rotating EU presidency from Slovenia on Saturday.

The French presidency comes at a crucial time for French President Emmanuel Macron, who is due to run for re-election in April. Recently, Macron revealed Paris’ priorities for the French EU presidency: sovereignty, defense policy, the Western Balkans, economic growth. The French presidential trio, led by France, also includes the Czech Republic, which will hold the EU presidency in the second half of 2022, and Sweden in the first half of 2023.

achievements of Slovenia

A few days ago, just before the end of the Slovenian presidency, Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said that the agreed decision of all EU member states that Croatia was ready to join the Schengen area was one of the two greatest achievements of his presidency. EU.

At a press conference on the results of Slovenia’s EU presidency, Hojs said that another important achievement was the adoption of a joint statement on Afghanistan after the Taliban took power in that country again.

The statement reaffirmed Slovenia’s position that another mass wave of migrants to Europe, similar to the one following the outbreak of the war in Syria, should no longer be allowed, that migration should be tackled in countries bordering Afghanistan, and that families Afghans who have worked with the EU and its institutions should be relocated to Europe.

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