Brussels, 29/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - The accession of ten new Member States this Saturday 1 May will be celebrated throughout the 25 members of the enlarged EU. The official ceremony will take place this Saturday in Dublin, where the Irish Presidency will invite the Heads of State and Government of the 25 Member States to meet at 17.20 at the residence of the Irish President to celebrate enlargement, with speeches and the raising of the European flag. Earlier, on Saturday morning, a short academic session of "prayers for Europe" will take place in Dublin Castle, and will be attended by representatives of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities of Ireland, and by the current President of the European Council, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi, and the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox. This will be followed at 11.30 with a joint press conference by all three Presidents. Culturally, Dublin will be lit up on Friday evening with an enormous firework display and the world's biggest interactive work of art, allowing everyone to create their own light "sculpture" in the sky of the Irish capital. Other cultural events will be organised across Ireland, as each of the main cities of the country is twinned with a city in one of the ten newcomers.
This Friday and Saturday, there will be events and celebrations in most other countries of the enlarged EU. Here, as reported by AFP, are the main ones: Germany. Germany will celebrate enlargement in the "Zittau Triangle" on the border with Poland and the Czech Republic. On Saturday, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder will receive the Polish and Czech Prime Ministers, Leszek Miller and Vladimir Spidla (before he flies off to Dublin), and Berlin will party at the Brandenburg Gate. Belgium. In the Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels, a European flag of 150 m2 will be propelled into the air be 25 giant fans at around 17.30. Spain. In Madrid, the Vice-President of the European Commission, Loyola de Palacio, will be taking part in a ceremony with the ambassadors of the ten new Member States. Estonia. In Tallinn, President Arnold Ruutel will make a televised speech on Friday evening. On Saturday, some 8,000 Estonians, including MPs and diplomats, will plant a million trees across the country. France. In Paris, the ten newcomers will celebrate enlargement together on Saturday with a "musical marathon", offering a wide range of the contemporary creations. Fifty photographs taken by ten young Europeans will be on display on the Champs-Elysées until 13 May. United Kingdom. In London on Friday, Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd singer, will release a song entitled "It will be fine". Hungary. In Budapest, an exhibition of objects the Hungarians do not want to take with them into the EU will open on Friday. On Saturday, the Hungarians Hussars will give a full-uniform concert. Italy. On Friday, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will visit Kranjska Gora, on the border with Slovenia. Latvia. In Riga, there will be a non-stop singing concert on Friday and Saturday in the old town. On Saturday, the European flag will be raised on Doma Square, in the centre of the capital, by President Vaira Vike-Freiburg. Lithuania. In Vilnius, the parliament will meet for an extraordinary session on Friday, and on Saturday, photographers all over the country will take pictures for a book entitled "Lithuania's first day in the EU". Malta. In Valetta on Saturday, the Maltese will give the biggest firework session of the enlarged EU, set off towards the port by German fireworks expert Gert Hof. Poland. In Warsaw, President Aleksander Kwasniewski will raise the European flag on Square Jozef Pilsudski on Friday evening. On Sunday, a "prayer for Europe" will unite Episcopal representatives from 34 European countries in Wilanow, a residential area in the south of the capital. Portugal. In Lisbon, there has been a fair since Tuesday, representing the ten new Member States in gastronomy, literature, music, fashion and cinema. Czech Republic. In Prague, and European market will take place on Friday in An Prikope, the main pedestrian street in the capital, with the culinary specialities of all 25. Slovakia. Using a clod of earth each, ambassadors from the 25 countries of the enlarged EU will build a mound symbolising the united EU, in Bratislava. Slovenia. In Kranjska Gora, the Slovenian Prime Minister Anton Rop will receive his Italian and Austrian opposite numbers, Silvio Berlusconi and Wolfgang Schüssel, on Friday morning. That evening, he will welcome the President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, to the divided town of Nova Gorica/Gorica.