Germany's Chancellor kicks off his two-day visit to Balkans with Kosovo today

Scholz, expected to have an official visit to Kosovo and Serbia on Friday (June 10th) within his two-day tour of the Balkans.

According to German Chancellor Wolfgang Buchner's spokesman, Scholz in Kosovo, in addition to meetings with institutional leaders, German troops within KFOR will also visit.

The focus of the trip, according to the spokesman, will be the prospect of Western Balkan membership in the EU, as well as Germany's contribution to improving regional co-operation.

His visit comes several months after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock's visit, who met with Kurti of Mqira, emphasising on boosting economic co-operation and dialogue, while promising that Germany will do its work on visa terms. Germany has also appointed a special representative for the Western Balkans, Manuel Saracin, indicating that it will be dedicated especially to this region.

Scholz, who is Chancellor from the SPD (German Social Democratic Party), has linked the coalition with the Greens for government creation in Germany. In the joint programme that had 177 pages, for the first time, the Western Balkans occupied a particular place where Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and visa liberalisation for Kosovo were said to be the priority.

Meanwhile, German Ambassador to Kosovo Joern Rohde said several days ago he would be the last German ambassador to be asked for visa liberalisation, alluding that it is expected to happen very soon.

Albin Kurti, on May 4th, had made an official visit at the invitation of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

It was Prime Minister Kurti's first meeting with German Chancellor Scholz. At a joint media conference following a meeting that had realised both leaders without media presence, Scholz had stressed that open issues between Kosovo and Serbia should be resolved step by step with the idea to culminate in regional peace and stability.

Among other things, Scholz had stressed the importance of co-operation and establishing a common regional market within the Berlin Process.

The Chancellor at the news conference in Berlin, along with Prime Minister Albin Kurti, said he personally engages with persistence within the EU for Kosovo to abolish visas.

Further progress must now be made in visa liberalisation for Kosovo. The federal government has fixed this as a target in the coalition agreement, and for that I am committed with persistence to the European Union, in talks with partners I am persistently engaged”, Scholz said