Message to the romanian and bulgarian peoples on their entry into the European Union

Message from M. Jacques CHIRAC, President of the Republic, to the romanian and bulgarian peoples on their entry into the European Union

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Paris, 31 December 2006


Dear Romanian and Bulgarian friends, and now dear European fellow citizens.

It is for you, and for us, a historic moment. Tomorrow, we shall once again be sharing one history and one destiny.

On behalf of France and all the French, I welcome you into the European Union. We are happy to see your efforts rewarded, we are proud to open up, with you, new horizons for Europe.

France has always supported your European ambition. Her Parliament unanimously ratified your countries' Treaty of Accession. It was natural for you to rejoin your family, Europe. In opening our doors to you, the former scissions which wounded our continent have at last disappeared. Sofia, Bucharest are once again capitals of Europe!

How could one imagine the EU without your two countries, whose histories and cultures have contributed so much to European identity and civilization over the past centuries?

Since the historic upheavals which liberated our continent at the beginning of the 1990s, you have trodden your European path with exemplary determination. Your success is also that of the EU, today completing its fifth enlargement.

In the exercise of the weighty responsibilities now yours in the EU, France will of course stand at your side. I am thinking in particular of your role in the region, bordering on the Black Sea, which is so important for our stability and our security. These new EU borders all present challenges which we shall take up together.

I should like to see us strengthen still further the very long-standing and profound affinities linking us, which are strikingly illustrated by our commitment to la Francophonie (international Francophone organization). The eleventh Francophone Summit, which brought us together three months ago in Bucharest, gave me the opportunity to meet President Basescu and President Parvanov again. With your two countries' entry into the European Union, la Francophonie members are in the majority in it. With you, we are keen to see increasing recognition of the cultural diversity which makes Europe rich.

I propose that we harness for the benefit of our Europe our long relations of friendship, our so often model cooperation and the very similar views we hold on so many issues. An ambitious Europe. A Europe on the move, simultaneously strong and mutually supportive. A Europe making its humanism and values felt in the world. This reconciled and reunited Europe, which, thanks to you, we are all celebrating this evening.

France and the French people are wholeheartedly with you. They send you, through me, dear friends of Bulgaria and Romania, their very best wishes for success and happiness.





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