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Oct. 31 - Nov. 7, 2004 |
8 - Dearly Priced Independence
Ten countries join European Union including Poland and Baltic Republics
By Antonio Maglio
Originally Published: 2004-08-22
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Latvian capital Riga
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The countdown is on: May 1, 10 new countries will become members of the European Union. They are Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, and Cyprus. After their entry, the Union will be made up of 25 Member States and will have 450 million citizens.
This event will mark the end of a long voyage that began immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the East vs. West confrontation in Europe. Many nations, formerly satellites of the Soviet Union in accordance with the Yalta agreement, regained their sovereignty and returned to the European home where they had lived for centuries.
Two more nations (Malta and Cyprus, large Mediterranean islands) asked to be admitted to the Union in order to break their political insularity; their location, straddling the border between the Christian and Islamic worlds, is bound to become strategic for the EU, which strives to be an element of stability and tolerance for the Middle East, where the destiny of the world hangs in the balance.
Peace has always been the first objective of the Union. It remains fundamental as the Union was formed precisely in order to avoid a repetition of the conditions that led to two world wars in 30 years. Europe has never had second thoughts on this objective: the last 50 years of peace in the Old World are an enduring demonstration.
After the entry of the 10 new countries, two important deadlines draw near: the June 12-13 elections for the European Parliament, and the launch of the Constitution, "an indispensable starting point for bringing the Union to full functionality," recently remarked by President of Italy Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, "and enabling Europe to take on its own responsibilities on the world scene."
Through our series, our readers followed the long way to the Union, which began in 1951 with the Treaty of Paris and continued with mixed success for over 50 years.
Along the way, the founding members (Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxemburg) were joined by Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom (1973), Greece (1981), Spain and Portugal (1986), Austria, Sweden and Finland (1995). Now that the Union has completed another leg of its course, we must present the new partners that will join the Union on May 1. This installment will deal with Poland and the Baltic Republics. We shall explore their national histories both recent and past, taking notice that these were never enclosed within national borders but always intertwined with those of other European nations. This great collective history in the shade of a common culture is what induced the Europeans to close the ages of divisions and conflicts.
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