Brussels – The 20-year celebration of the largest enlargement of the European Union was an opportunity to talk about the future of the Union. The European Parliament today (April 24) held a session in Strasbourg to celebrate the entry of the 10 countries (Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia) on May 1, 2004. At the event, in addition to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and that of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen was Romano Prodi, President of the Commission at the time of enlargement.
“On May 1, 2004, I was in Valletta, at the port, for the countdown that marked our entry into the Union,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, recalling the feeling of euphoria and hope for the future. A historic day, considering that the social and economic conditions in those countries that joined 20 years ago have all improved markedly. In her commemorative speech for the 2004 enlargement, President Metsola also wanted to remind the states that may join the EU in the future: “Now we see other peoples looking at us with the same eyes with which we looked at the Union. We cannot betray those hopes.”
Romano Prodi is emotional as he speaks in front of the hall where current MEPs listened to him, along with the heads of government with whom he worked to make enlargement a reality. “We did not export democracy, but we signed a democratic contract with equal rights between those who opened the door and those who entered,” the former Council and Commission president recalled. Prodi pointed out that the accession negotiations were not easy. Each state had its specificities that it wanted to protect, while the fact that eight of the 10 countries that entered in 2004 were part of the Warsaw Pact complicated the process.
Prodi underlined how during discussions on enlarging the Union, there was a shared commitment to change European rules to complete the aggregation process. According to the former prime minister, this must be resumed. “In celebrating the past, we must make a commitment to the future,” he concluded his speech by saying.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wanted to recall how Prodi was right in 2004 when he declared, “Today’s enlargement is the largest in the Union and will not be the last.” Indeed, since then, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia joined. The entry of the 10 countries 20 years ago has made the EU stronger, Ursula von der Leyen stressed.
Still, today, many states remain at the window waiting to be able to join the EU: the countries of the southern Balkans, Turkey, Moldova, and especially Georgia and Ukraine. The Georgian protests have shown the unquestionable popular will to join the Union, von der Leyen said. Regarding Ukraine, on the other hand, the path seems clear and inescapable: “The Ukrainians have made their choice, and we have made ours,” von der Leyen was keen to emphasize, reiterating once again the need not to fail in military support for Kyiv.
English version by the Translation Service of WithubThe historic 2004 enlargement was the birth of a new era.
Built on the promise that all Europeans can be masters of their own destiny.
Together with your ingenuity, Europe has made you stronger.
And you have made Europe so much stronger, too ↓ https://t.co/z4sAEhLt6r
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) April 24, 2024
