ninme

BBC – Romania and Bulgaria join the EU

Huge celebrations have been held in Romania and Bulgaria to mark their accession to the European Union, 17 years after the fall of Communism.

Thousands attended concerts in the two capitals, Bucharest and Sofia.

Several European leaders joined in a folk dance in Bucharest, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso delivered a speech in Sofia.

Their entry brings EU membership to 27 – up from 15 three years ago – and a population of half a billion.

“It was hard, but we arrived at the end of the road. It is the road of our future. It is the road of our joy,” Romanian President Traian Basescu said, as tens of thousands of revellers cheered.

I wish this meant something to us.

Update:

Damnit why can’t we get open migration too?!?!

BBC – Coming up: Food from the new EU

In 2004 Poland joined the European Union and two years later UK supermarkets started competing to stock the richest range of Polish food.

Beetroot soup, stuffed cabbage leaves and chocolate-covered marshmallows are now being imported in an attempt to attract Britain’s Poles, and arouse the curiosity of other shoppers.

Ready-made own-brand Polish meals are expected to follow in 2007.

This week Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU, so it could be that dishes from these countries will also one day appear on our shelves.

Petru Clej of the BBC’s Romanian Service, and Svetla Bobeva, who worked for the BBC Bulgarian Service before it closed in 2006, gave some examples of foods that their compatriots cannot live without.

drool