Bulgaria and Romania prepare to party

Hundreds of events are planned in Bulgaria and Romania on 31 December and 1 January to celebrate the admission of the two countries to the EU after seven years of talks.

European Commissioners Margot Wallström and Olli Rehn and German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier will take part in the festivities, visiting Romania on 31 December and Bulgaria on 1 January. Commission President José Manuel Barroso has recorded a taped message to be played to the crowds in Bucharest and Sofia.

Battenberg Square in Sofia will be the scene of Bulgaria’s largest event - organised by a planning committee led by Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev. Bulgaria has declared 2 January a public holiday.

There will also be joint celebrations at the Giurgiu-Rousse Friendship Bridge on the Bulgarian-Romanian border, where guards will exchange gifts.

In Romania there will be double celebrations in the town of Sibiu, the Transylvanian capital, which also becomes, along with Luxembourg, the European capital of culture on 1 January. Steinmeier will visit the town which has a sizeable population of German-speakers.

Slovenia will also be celebrating on 1 January as it becomes the 13th country in the eurozone. Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk will withdraw euro-notes from a cash machine shortly after midnight. EU finance ministers and prime ministers have been invited to official celebrations in Ljubljana on 15 January, the deadline for the Slovenian tolar to be removed from circulation.

Hundreds of events are planned in Bulgaria and Romania on 31 December and 1 January to celebrate the admission of the two countries to the EU after seven years of talks.