German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will visit the Western Balkans in June, ahead of the European Council meeting.

His visit is broadly seen as a message to reinstate that the region belongs in Europe, reported Al Jazeera.

The six aspiring countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia – have been quite committed to several years of reforms, said Scholz to lawmakers in Berlin on Thursday.

“Honoring our commitment toward them is not only a matter of our credibility. Today more than ever, their integration is in our strategic interests”, he said hinting at external influences from Russia.

In April, Scholz called to accelerate the integration process for the six countries in face of growing threats brought by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.