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Bulgaria and Romania have geared up for a special double New Year's celebration as the two former Soviet bloc states become the newest members of the European Union as midnight strikes.
French President Jacques Chirac made a televised address to Bulgaria and Romania in which he welcomed their nationals as “dear fellow European citizens.”
“This for you, and for us, is a historic moment,” he said, according to a transcript provided by his office, about the newcomers accession on January 1.
But with enlargement fatigue gripping large parts of the bloc, the EU's latest and poorest members are likely to be greeted more with a shrug than open arms.
And in Brussels, EU headquarters will be keeping a close eye on whether the two nations abide by their pledges to crack down on corruption and organised crime.
In a clearer success story, all is ready for EU member Slovenia to become on January 1 the first former communist state to adopt the Union's common currency, the euro, officials said in Ljubljana.
In Bulgaria, thousands of revellers were expected to flock to a gigantic rock and pop concert on Alexander Battenberg square in the capital, Sofia.
The show will be interrupted for speeches by President Georgi Parvanov, Prime Minister Sergei Stanichev and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. But the partying is expected to continue long into the night.
A pyramid of light will illuminate the sky above Sofia, its five rays emanating from the city's Orthodox cathedral, its Armenian church, a synagogue, a church and a mosque.
In Bucharest, European parliament president Josep Borrel and other dignitaries including foreign ministers from Germany, Bulgaria, Denmark and Hungary are to meet with Romanian President Traian Basescu and Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu for a countdown to midnight.
The latest Eurobarometer poll published in December shows that at the eve of accession 63 percent of all Bulgarians and 69 percent of all Romanians think their eastern European states will largely benefit from EU membership.
Together with Greece, the two newcomers will be the only Balkan nations in Europe's rich club, and will play a key role as representatives of a region ravaged by the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
Political analyst Ivan Krastev of the Sofia-based Centre for Liberal Strategies told AFP that “with the accession of Bulgaria and Romania the region will receive a clear message that enlargement is not dead”.
EU leaders agreed December 15 in Brussels to put the lid on further enlargement of the bloc.
The decision has major repercussions for EU hopefuls in the Balkans such as Croatia, which is at the front of the queue and expected to join by 2010.
Bulgaria and Romania will be Europe's poorest members with gross domestic product per capita barely reaching one third of the European average, Eurostat statistics show.
The two will contribute only one percent to the EU's gross domestic product.
The gap between Bulgaria and Romania and the current EU members has raised fears of a sharp rise in prices after January 1 in the newcomers where average monthly salaries are about 200 euros (260 dollars).
Meanwhile, Bulgaria and Romania will be subjected to unprecedented monitoring by Brussels, amid concerns over crime and rampant corruption, management of the European funds and food safety.
Bulgaria will also have to carry out reforms to make its judiciary more efficient, as several notorious criminals have managed to avoid imprisonment.
If progress is slow, the enthusiasm of the two newcomers risks being clouded by restrictions, including partial suspension of agricultural subsidies and non-recognition of the decisions of their courts in Europe.
Another problem is allowing borders to fall totally.
Fearing a flood of cheap labor, Spain, Britain, Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, France and Greece have announced restrictions on workers from the two incoming states.
