GREECE: The expansion of the European Union from 15 to 25 member- states must release the continent from the weight of the past rather than causing new divisions, Greece's foreign minister said yesterday as his country formally took over the EU's rotating six-month presidency.
Foreign Minister Mr Georges Papandreou also called for the EU to play an active role, on the basis of equality with the United States, in world crises from Iraq and the Middle East to the Korean peninsula.
The decision to enlarge the EU had been a political one, aimed at "removing dividing lines, to free Europe from the weight of the past," Mr Papandreou said. Enlargement "must not create new divisions", he added.
During Greece's stint at the helm, "we must push ahead with efforts to create firm links with all the European countries seeking to join the EU", he said.
Mr Papandreou also called for the EU to be a "strong presence, with a role and a message, in a relationship of equality with our strategic partner the United States".
He said the EU could be a "stabilising factor in regional crises". "It can promote peace and respect for international law in the Middle East and in Iraq, it can contribute to the war against terrorism and its causes," he added, and "take initiatives in regions of tension such as the Korean peninsula" . - (AFP)