Champagne corks popped from the Baltic Sea to Hungary's Lake Balaton on Friday after eight east European nations sealed a historic accord to join the EU, exorcising the memory of the Iron Curtain once and for all.
Last-minute bickering at the end of a two-day summit in the Danish capital turned to handshakes, hugs and smiles as leaders from the 15 current members of the EU agreed on a financial package extended to 10 new, mainly former eastern bloc, states.
EU expansion comes just weeks after NATO accepted seven new members in the region, and is yet another step in erasing the geopolitical scars that cut through the heart of Europe for nearly five decades of Soviet occupation and dominance.
Peteris Vinkelis, a political advisor to Latvian Prime Minister Einars Repse, said: "Mr. Repse is in Copenhagen drinking champagne and I am here in Riga drinking Cognac -- need I say more?"
The biggest candidate, President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland, , said: "The finale crowns the efforts and this is a happy end. On May 1, 2004, we will be in the EU on good conditions."
Enlargement was both a big step for the Union and for the 10 newcomers -- Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Cyprus.
After the last round of expansion in 1995, the EU had a population of over 370 million and an area of 3.23km2 million.
If referendums in candidate nations are successful -- as expected -- their accession will add some 710,600km2 of land and 75 million people to the bloc.
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