Three towns in party” “

Dublin: “day of welcome”. “During this week in which we will witness the enlargement of the European Union my hope is that our nation may play an ever more important role in forming the future of Europe. Ireland has gained a lot from her integration in a greater European project and I hope she will continue to give the best of herself in the ongoing construction of a Europe of values, integration and solidarity”. That’s how Archbishop Martin Diarmuid, auxiliary of Dublin, hailed, on 26 April, the forthcoming entry into the EU of ten new countries – Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus and Malta. The official ceremony, “Day of welcome”, will be held tomorrow, 1st May, in the residence of the President of Ireland in Dublin. Press conferences are scheduled in the morning: one given by Irish Prime Minister and current President of the European Council Bertie Ahern, the other by the Presidents of the European Commission Romano Prodi and European Parliament Pat Cox. This will be followed in the afternoon by the official ceremony of enlargement, in the presence of Irish President Mary McAleese, Prime Minister Ahern and the Heads of State and of Government of the member states. To celebrate this historic event, the Irish government has planned a programme packed with events and ceremonials. On their arrival the various Heads of State will be welcomed by the Taoiseach and President of the European Council Bertie Ahern, at the residence of the Irish President Mary McAleese, where the flag-raising ceremony will take place. The events being planned will include the “Vectorial elevation”, or nighttime illumination of Dublin. There will be fairs and firework displays. Moreover, to give a particular welcome to the ten new countries, 10 Irish towns have been chosen, Bray, Cork, Drogheda, Galway, Kilkenny, Killarney, Letterkenny, Limerick, Sligo and Waterford. They will act as hosts to artists from the new member states who will help spread knowledge of the art, cuisine, literature, history and music of their country. Brussels: citizens “guests of honour”. The headquarters of the European institutions in Brussels are planning an “open-doors” day on 1st May to mark EU enlargement. Citizens will be welcomed as “special guests” in the buildings that contain the Parliament, Council and Commission. Similar events have been announced by the Economic and Social Committee, Committee of the Regions, Court of Audit and Offices of the European Ombudsman and European Central Bank in the Belgian capital, which (on this occasion too) will aspire to its consecration as “capital of Europe”. In collaboration with the authorities of Brussels, a programme of events has been planned to celebrate the entry of ten new countries into the EU. Guided tours with simultaneous translations in several languages, promotional stands to inform the public about EU activities and policies, and about the new member states (socio-economic and tourist information, wine and gastronomic tasting), and debates on the future of the EU, are being organized in the headquarters on the Rue Wiertz (Parliament), Rue de la Loi (Council) and Avenue d’Auderghem (Commission), from 10.00 to 18.00. There will also be exhibitions of photos and works of art dedicated to Europe and its history, quiz contests about the forthcoming European elections, concerts, and games for children. A large handicrafts market and an agricultural fair promoted by young farmers of the various nations, with the chance to taste national and regional specialities, will also be held during the same day. The symbolic events will include the welcome of marchers from Hungary, bearing the flags of the new member countries. gorizia: the experience of “border towns”. “Together in Europe: exercises of integration, ideas and practices in movement” is the title of the international conference held at Gorizia on 28 April, as part of the celebrations marking Slovenia’s entry into the European Union, and also the anniversary of the foundation of the city of Gorizia (28 April 1001). The conference “was born from the idea of bringing together some border towns and showing how mutual collaboration and dialogue have been developed in various territories over the years”. There are in fact many towns in Europe that have, in the course of history and as a result of geopolitical upheavals, been divided by frontiers. Historical developments have now led to this division disappearing, and the physical barriers between communities being eliminated: towns like Gorizia and Nova Gorica between Italy and Slovenia; Šempeter-Vrtojba, Görlitz and Zgorzelec between Germany and Poland; Bad Radkersburg and Gornja Radgona between Austria and Slovenia. On the occasion of Slovenia’s entry into the EU, the Slovene conductor Uroš Lajovic will conduct the two combined Italian and Slovene orchestras in Gorizia. They will play the two national anthems and the European “hymn to joy” in the Piazza Transalpina at midnight on 30 April, marking the unveiling of the mosaic commissioned to mark the reunification of the two towns.