LONDON -- A few days ago in Athens, the birthplace of democracy, EU leaders approved a major expansion of the European Union that will embrace 10 new members and 73 million more European citizens.
The process is not quite complete. Referendums are taking place in most of the new nations between now and October to confirm their membership. But barring major reversals of opinion, the EU is now set to stretch from the Atlantic in the West to the borders of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia in the East, the final and formal date for entry being May 1, 2004. On that date, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Malta and a still divided Cyprus all become full members.
Joy is not universal at this prospect, as some very difficult issues hang uneasily in the air.