Valls to visit Serbia on November 6 and 7

PARIS - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls will pay a visit to Serbia on November 6 and 7 during which he will meet with Serbian top officials, the French prime minister's office has released.

The visit of the French prime minister will have economic, political and commemorative aspects, reads the statement on the website of the French government.

Valls will hold meetings with Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic and Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic.

Prime Minister Valls will head a delegation of French businessmen, including representatives of 35 enterprises and the economic sectors, who will participate in a business forum aimed at strengthening trade ties between Serbia and France.

The two sides will sign several bilateral agreements, particularly in the field of traffic and partnerships between the public and private sectors.

Valls will come to Serbia at Vucic's invitation, and this will be the first visit by a Frech prime minister to a democratic Serbia, at the time when the country, which is historically close to France, is implementing ambitious administrative reform and modernization, while at the same time it is opening to normalization of relations with its neighbors, the statement reads.

Prime Ministers Vucic and Valls and Belgrade Mayor Sinisa Mali will visit Obrenovac, which was severely hit by the May floods, and tour the repair work that were helped by France.

Valls will also meet with members of the French community in Serbia, who spontaneously decided to collect funds to support the population in the flood-hit areas.

One hundred years after the outbreak of World War I, Valls and Vucic will tour the Monument of Gratitude to France in Kalemegdan, symbolizing the war...