German Chancellor Comes to Tirana on Monday

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel on Monday for a brief visit to Tirana, German government spokesman Stephen Hebestreet announced on Friday, 13.10.23, at the German government's press conference in Berlin. Scholz will attend the Berlin Process Summit, which is held for the first time in a country outside the European Union. The Berlin Process is an initiative of 2014 to support EU integration of six Western Balkan conflicts -- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro. Northern Macedonia, Serbia and Albania.

In addition to Chancellor Scholz at the meeting, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Charles Michel will also attend. The previous Berlin Process Summit was held in November last year in Berlin. It was celebrated as a major achievement of signing three mobility agreements. So far they have not been implemented, largely because of strained relations between Serbia and Kosovo. The mobility agreements would be an important step towards the creation of the Common Regional Market, under which only the reduction of the roting tariffs has been reached so far. According to German government spokesman, the other topic is ecological transformation and digitalization.

At the press conference at the 2022 Berlin summit: Edi Rama, Olaf Scholz and Ursula von der Leyeen. At the press conference at the 2022 Berlin summit: Edi Rama, Olaf Scholz and Ursula von der Leyeen.

The previous Berlin Process Summit was held in November last year in Berlin. It was celebrated as a major achievement of signing three planning agreements. So far they have not been implemented, largely because of strained relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

Hebestreet said Scholz will also seek contact with representatives of Kosovo and Serbia, as he did in Granada, Spain, at the European Political Community meeting. If Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic will also attend the Tirana meeting, that is not yet known, Berlin said.

Difference between Serbia and Kosovo

After Banjska's terrorist attack, the differences between Kosovo and Serbia have deepened even more. Kosovo, although supporting the Berlin Process initiative, expects the meeting to maintain a clear attitude towards Serbia. I expect the “to explain that it is a direct threat to the European integration project, even to say more directly the responsibility the Serbian state has had in the act of aggression on September 24th”, Kosovo Parliament Speaker Glauk Konjufca said.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at the meeting that the path of the Balkan Godly countries towards the EU is possible only together, and by recognising and respecting territorial integrity. It can only be done when you realize that security is mutual.

At the feasibility meeting of the foreign ministers of the Berin Process, which was held last Friday in Tirana, Serbia's Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic refused to appear in a joint photograph, where the Kosovo flag was in the background.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at the meeting that the path of the countries of the Western Balkans towards the EU is possible only together, and by recognising and respecting territorial integrity. It can only be done when you realize that security is mutual.

Even German government in charge of the Western Balkans Manuel Sarrazin told DW in an exclusive interview that tensions such as the Banjska on 24 September should no longer be repeated and that they are toxic for the entire region. / DW