German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier last night described the enlargement of the European Union by ten countries twenty years ago as a "moment of European happiness", reported DPA, quoted by BTA.
On May 1, 2004, the EU grew from 15 to 25 member states - the largest enlargement of the European Union to date - and added 75 million new EU citizens, Steinmeier said at a joint press conference with Czech President Peter Pavel in Prague.
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Then the countries of the former Eastern Bloc joined – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, as well as Malta and Cyprus.
"The enlargement of the EU at that time, in my opinion, is a very impressive example of a fateful and successful transformation in Europe, which finally managed to overcome the division caused by the Cold War,”, the German president also said.
Steinmeier is in Prague to celebrate the anniversary of 1 May 2004 with the Czech Republic. "I am sure that EU membership has changed the Czech Republic, but the Czech Republic has also changed the European Union,” he added.
Even today, the accession of new countries is of main strategic interest for Germany, the Czech Republic and the EU, and Germany stands behind the membership candidates Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and the countries of the Western Balkans, Steinmeier said.