Germany's Scholz to Visit North Macedonia, Bulgaria on Saturday

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz continues his tour to the countries of the Balkans region on Saturday by visiting North Macedonia, and Bulgaria.

Sholz will discuss the objections of Bulgaria towards North Macedonia's membership in the European Union, in addition, the German leader will try to end the rifts between both countries.

Yesterday, Scholz held several talks with the leaders of Greece, and Kosovo. He also attempted to solve the arguments between the countries of Balkans to pave the way of their EU membership.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti will apply for the EU membership by the end of this year.

Kurti said: “We will continue our aspiration for EU candidate status, where we plan at the end of this year,” asserting that the country will work to fulfil the EU membership requirements.

If the Balkans country files its application, Bosnia and Herzegovina will be the final Balkans land that is out of the bloc as Serbia and Montenegro started a new stage with their EU relations, on the other hand, North Macedonia and Albania are in the phase of negotiations.

During a joint press conference with Scholz, Kurti expressed that the German parliament will vote for the presence of German troops in Kosovo as the country is keen to be part of the Peace and NATO program.

Kosovo is not a NATO or EU member, in addition, it is the only country in the Balkans that wasn’t given visa-free travel to the bloc countries.

Moreover, there are five EU countries that didn’t recognize the independence of Kosovo, and the organizations’ membership should be guaranteed after all members approved the decision.

The five countries that deny the independence of Kosovo are Cyprus, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, and Greece.