EU leaders hailed the move to reunite a once
divided continent |
European
leaders meeting in Athens have made history by signing a treaty on
the largest expansion of the European Union yet.
The treaty cements plans for the fifth enlargement of the union
since the creation of the six-member European Community in 1957.
Ten new members, eight of them from the former communist bloc,
will formally join the EU in May 2004, if ratification goes
according to plan, taking the number of EU states to 25.
 Today we open our arms to embrace these
75 million new European citizens 
European Commission President Romano Prodi
|
"It is only today that the Berlin Wall has truly fallen," said
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
As the signing ceremony took place in the shadow of the
Acropolis, the birthplace of democracy, anti-war protesters threw
petrol bombs at police, who replied with tear gas.
Several people were injured.
|
ACCESSION STATES
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Poland
Slovakia
Slovenia |
The European leaders agreed an Athens Declaration, in which they
expressed their determination to put an end to centuries of conflict
on the European continent.
The leaders of four of the larger EU states - France, Germany,
Spain and the UK - also tried to overcome their divisions on the war
in Iraq.
The first two are anti-war while the second two are pro-war, but
reports from Athens said they managed to agree on a two-part
statement, which was was being circulated among EU members for
approval.
In other developments:
- UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said he and UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan had agreed on the importance of the role of the United
Nations in Iraq, during their meeting in Athens;
- French President Jacques Chirac softened his earlier criticism
of Eastern European states for their pro-US stance, calling on the
new Europe to show solidarity with the "European family";
- Mr Chirac was quoted as saying that France would be flexible
in working with the US and British forces now running Iraq, after
his first face-to-face meeting with Mr Blair since the war began;
- The head of the European Convention drafting a new EU
constitution, former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing,
said a draft would be released at a 20 June summit in Greece
despite his earlier calls for more time.
The Athens Declaration had been intended to mention the war in
Iraq, but the phrase was dropped from the final text.
Violence on the streets marred the optimistic
mood of the summit |
The
declaration said the EU was committed to facing up to its global
responsibilities, and that it would "support conflict prevention,
promote justice, help secure peace and defend global security".
It added: "We are determined to work at all levels to tackle
global terrorism and stem the weapons of mass destruction."
European Commission President Romano Prodi welcomed "75 million
new European citizens" who are expected to join the EU next year.
"This is your home too now," he said.
"It is yours to cherish, to make yourselves at home in, to dream
in, to adorn, to extend even further."
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy said the EU's eastward
expansion was "a debt that destiny is paying back".
"If only my father and mother were alive to see this," he added.
"It is the realisation of a dream."
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