FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) - The final touches to Germany's preparations for the 2008 European Championships will be made in friendlies against Belarus and Serbia, the German football federation said Wednesday.

Germany, among the favourites for the June 2-29 championships in Austria and Switzerland, will play Belarus on May 27 in Kaiserslautern and Serbia four days later in Gelsenkirchen.

Belarus are ranked only 60th in FIFA's rankings, while Serbia are ranked 27th. Germany coach Joachim Loew said the pair were chosen due to their "similarities" with Germany's group rivals.

Loew said: "We've chosen these two teams because they have similar characteristics, as regards mentality and style of game, to Poland and Croatia."

Germany will play their first group match against Poland on June 8 in Klagenfurt, Austria, face Croatia on June 11 and then meet co-hosts Austria on June 16.

In other pre-tournament warm-up matches Germany will face Austria on February 6 in Vienna and Switzerland on March 26. Germany's headquarters for the tournament will be in Ascona, Switzerland.