German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says that he is committed to the expansion of the EU with the six countries from the Western Balkans, as well as with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, which would move the center of Europe to the east.

EU enlargement is in our interest, Scholz said in a speech at a university in Prague.

But, he says, in such an expanded union, differences between member states will grow and political interests, economic power and social security systems will be called into question. Therefore, he calls for the cancellation of unanimous decision-making, i.e. the right of veto of the member states.

Where unanimity is required today, the risk of a single country using the veto preventing others from progressing increases with each additional country. That is why I proposed a gradual transition to majority voting for common foreign policy, but also in other areas, such as tax policy, knowing full well that this could have consequences for Germany as well, said Scholz.