Olaf Scholz got to know the Prime Minister of Kosovo as a friendly man when Albin Kurti visited Berlin in May at the invitation of the Federal Chancellor.

Kurti is also a social democrat, so he belongs to the same family of parties as the Chancellor of the SPD.

So it's no coincidence that the first destination of the trip that Scholz is taking to five Balkan countries on Friday and Saturday is Prishtina, the capital of the youngest country in Europe to declare independence in February 2008.

This gesture is appreciated in Kosovo, not least because Belgrade and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić are only directly afterwards on the Chancellor's itinerary.

Markus Wehner

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence.

Scholz recently brought Kurti and Vučić together in Berlin in order to at least restart the broken dialogue between the two countries.

Kurti calls Scholz's visit a "historic day" for Kosovo, because no German chancellor has visited the country for 14 years.

In view of the Russian aggression, what is needed now is strong leadership, which he expects from the chancellor.

"The EU is our destiny"

Scholz has set himself the goal of resuming the accession ambitions of the Western Balkan countries.

He wants to prevent the states from falling under Russian influence or, like Serbia, staying under it and thus damaging the European integration process.

Berlin assumes that an economically weakened Russia will no longer be an attractive partner for countries in the Western Balkans in the long term.

The Chancellor recently said in the Bundestag that it is not only about the security of the region, in which external forces, “not least Russia”, would be struggling for influence, but also “about our own security, which without a stable European Western Balkans is not available”.

Scholz wants to use Berlin's weight to ensure that the prospect of accession again becomes a realistic option for the countries of the Western Balkans, at least more realistic than is the case now.

He wants to "send a new sign of hope and confidence" "with new speed and new vigour," he says in Prishtina.

But this also includes a new willingness on the part of the countries of the Western Balkans to come to pragmatic compromises.

Scholz is aware that this is a task that will take years in view of the nationalistically motivated reservations and conflicts.

When asked, Kurti made his country's further ambitions public.

“We plan to apply for candidate status for the European Union this year.” So Kosovo does not want to lag behind Ukraine, Moldova or Georgia.

Kurti does not like to see competition with Kyiv.

He supported Ukraine's membership aspirations, which had been hit by an "absurd invasion" by Russia and had "our hearts" in the face of the terrible war.

But he leaves no doubt about his goal.

"The EU is our destiny." They want to join it faster than previously planned.