The presidents of France and Serbia, Emmanuel Macron and Aleksandar Vucic, signed a joint statement on Thursday following the Macron's two-day visit to Belgrade and agreed the country would join the European Union after the bloc reformed itself, the Beta news agency reported on Thursday.

The two confirmed their commitment to the democratic values, human rights and the rule of law.

The joint statement published on Thursday by Vucic’s office, the two presidents agreed to fully implement the 2011 ‘Agreement on Strategic Partnership and Cooperation,’ to continue the high-level political dialogue and strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Macron and Vucic said that Serbia’s accession to the previously reformed EU was a common strategic goal.

Besides the economic reforms in which Serbia show significant progress, the two agree that additional efforts in the area of the rule of law, fundamental rights, empowering the democratic institutions and the reform of public administration.

The presidents also said they would like the Belgrade – Pristina dialogue on the normalisation of relations to resume soon and to find a mutually acceptable solution under the EU auspices.

The joint statement also tackled the topics like environment, regional links, European cultural space, improvement of anyway good economic relations, energy and other infrastructural issues and other matters relevant to both countries.

Macron visited Serbia on July 15-16, as the first French President since 2001, when Jacques Chirac was in Belgrade.

His visit was scheduled for November 2018, but Macron had to postpone it due to problems at home.