German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Scholz said at the congress in Berlin that an EU with 27, 30, 36 states, with then more than 500 million free and equal citizens, can bring its weight to bear even more strongly in the world. He committed to the enlargement of the EU and added that the EU continues to grow is a win-win for all of them. The EU currently has 27 members. 

Since assuming office, Scholz has made European Union expansion to include the Balkans and others nations a major plank of his foreign policy.