Getting to know new neighbours

By Wieslaw Horabik

Date: 29/04/04

The die is cast. For the first time since the Holy Alliance, Europe is united: it breathes with both its lungs - western and eastern. No matter how trite it may sound, 1 May 2004 is a historic moment.

"Yalta is finally gone!" exclaim leading Polish politicians, referring to the agreement that for more than half-a-century divided Europe into American and Soviet zones of influence.

But others point out that enlargement is a risky business. Seventy-five million people become EU citizens next weekend and some western politicians - and the public - are sceptical as to the outcome of this experiment.

There are worries, in Brussels and some EU capitals, about new member states' lack of flexibility in negotiations or their strong pro-Americanism. The newcomers, on the other hand, feel patronized by old member states - and resent being told that they "missed an opportunity to shut up".

Despite this weekend's emotional speeches, the Union's historic expansion eastwards could be bumpy.

But Europe's unification will not be truly complete until the EU's new citizens get to know each other better.

A recent survey in a Warsaw newspaper showed that, ten days before their country's accession to the EU, many Polish parliamentarians thought that it was Romano Proxi who chaired the European Commission, Queen Elizabeth II was the president of Ireland and that there was an unidentified number of stars on the Union's flag.

Conversely, a typical image used to portray Poland in European newspapers remains one of a horse-driven cart, a toothless, stooping villager with a sickle, marching to collect his crops and a shabbily dressed woman with a babushka on her head. Even for many of their neighbours, the accession states are still a terra incognita and stereotypes die hard.

But there is hope: those polls also suggest many young Poles already pledge their allegiance to Europe rather than to their native land.

Article is part of a European Voice Special Report on EU Enlargement.