[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Pages 8228-8229]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HISTORIC EXPANSION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, on May 1, 2004, in a truly historic move, 
the European Union welcomed 10 new member states. On this momentous 
occasion, I offer my congratulations and best wishes to the people of 
the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, 
Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. These countries have made great 
achievements, and America benefits from our close ties to these 
nations.
  EU expansion represents yet another victory for freedom in Central 
and Eastern Europe, together with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, 
the Soviet Union's last gasp in 1991, and the two NATO expansions. 
Europe is divided no longer, and the United States enjoys an 
unprecedented relationship with the 10 new EU members.
  I hope that our excellent relations with these countries will 
continue, and that we will continue to pursue our common goals of 
freedom, democracy, and prosperity throughout the world.

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