Kosovan Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced that his country intends to make an official application for EU membership by the end of the year at a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday.
Kosovo, which has been an independent country since 2008, currently only has the status of a potential candidate in the EU. Formerly a province of Serbia, the population of Kosovo is now majority Albanian.
Serbia continues to claim Kosovo as its own territory and five EU-members - Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus - have not recognized Kosovo as an independent state.
Scholz is on a two-day tour of five of the Balkan states. The Kosovan capital of Pristina is the first stop, before he travels on to Belgrade later in the day.
Scholz said it was important "to send a new signal of hope and confidence that the European Union is very serious about this accession process," noting that the six Balkan countries aspiring to join the EU were already promised accession 19 years ago.
Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania have been EU accession candidates for years. Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina are still waiting for this status.
After his talks with Scholz, Kurti said that he hoped for the bloc's support once the bid was entered.
Before arriving in Belgrade, Scholz urged his second stop, Serbia, to change its policy towards Russia. "Whoever wants to become a member of the EU must accept for themselves all of the rules is associated with it." The sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia were among them, he said.
Scholz is expected to focus in Belgrade on Serbia's loyalties in Russia's war on Ukraine. Although Belgrade wants to become a member of the EU, support for sanctions on Russia are out of the question for Serbia.
