Slobodan Milosevic's hoped-for return to Yugoslav political life is "inconceivable", French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said Sunday.
"The absolute priority for Europeans, Americans and most neighboring countries is for Milosevic to be put where he can do no harm and sidelined from power," Vedrine said in an interview on Europe 1 radio.
"The entire world believes it is inconceivable for Milosevic to still play a political role and I imagine that, very quickly, this will be evident to the Serbs themselves," he said.
Vedrine was expected to travel to Belgrade sometime next week, perhaps as early as Tuesday, to meet with Milosevic's successor, Vojislav Kostunica, who was sworn in late Saturday as Yugoslavia's first popularly elected president.
He mentioned during the interview that the European Union was set to lift crippling economic sanctions against Serbia on Monday, when EU foreign ministers were to meet in Luxembourg.
"We are going to keep our promises. We are going to lift sanctions on Monday," he said.
France currently holds the rotating EU presidency.
French President Jacques Chirac has invited Kostunica to participate in the EU summit, starting Friday in the French southwestern resort town of Biarritz -- PARIS (AFP)
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