Evidently the fall of the Berlin Wall and the consequent demise of the Soviet empire, and disintegration of Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia which reflected the greatest contraction of power and influence in modern history encouraged the wave of Eastern and Central European countries' desire and the Baltic states' irrepressible urge to join the ranks of the richest club in the world. It is not only the prospect of economic prosperity which impelled these countries to join EU but also the asphyxiation suffered by many of the new entrants contributed to the process of integration. The Baltic States always resented the casual abandon with which the victors of the Second World War decided on their absorption into the Soviet Union. Hungary and then Czechoslovakia were victims of Soviet invasions to quell the "revolt" of the local populace seeking freedom. Hungary and Poland were very much within the strong grip of the Soviet Union and also on the edge of the Iron Curtain.

Then there was the question of European values the strength of which was witnessed by the world when Germany, France and Belgium denied Jorge Haider's ambition to become the vice-chancellor of Austria though his party( along with the Conservatives) won decisive mandate in the country's general elections. Jorge Haider's fault was his admiration of Adolph Hitler's SS and his reported devaluation of Nazi atrocities. Austria became a pariah till Haider decided not to join the cabinet.

European values again took the centre stage when Kosovo crisis was generated by Serbian genocide on the Kosovars and the consequent NATO's subjugation of Serbia and the current trial at The Hague of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. The new members has to be wedded to the European values of democracy, human rights, rule of law and commitment to market economy and to political, economic and monetary union. Earlier the superiority of the European values were amply demonstrated in the cases of Greece, Portugal and Spain who rose from fascist rule, primarily agrarian economies and mired in incorrigibly corrupt administration into what they have become today. Last year President Bush in his commencement address at the University of North Carolina informed his audience that the combined GDP of all Arab states was less than that of Spain.

EU membership is not an unmixed blessing. The population of Eastern Europe has already experienced enormous rise in poverty and unemployment, wage cuts and devaluation of social provisions to meet the criteria of EU membership. Wages in the accession countries are five to eight times lower than in the 15 EU countries. Average per capita GDP in the EU 15 (Euro 24250) is substantially higher than that in Hungary (euro 7080), or Latvia (euro 3740). Unemployment in the Czech Republic, for example, climbed from less than one per cent in 1990 to 6.5 percent in 1998 and is now almost 11 percent twice as high as in EU 15.

Then there is highly discrepant unemployment and uneven distribution of income and consequent poverty/ prosperity between the capitals and the outlying areas in, for example, Hungary and Slovakia. Many of the new members are lowering their taxes to attract investment which is being reflected in budget deficit. Estonia's current budget deficit is five times higher than the Argentinean deficit which provoked the financial crisis in 2001. Hungarian foreign trade deficit is already 58 percent and that of Latvia is about 64 percent of the GDP. It is generally believed that wage differential between East and West Europe will continue to remain in place for another ten years. These facts have been reflected in the political instability in some of the new member countries. Hungary has seen a succession of government since 1991, in Poland the ruling party registers less than ten per cent in opinion polls, Latvia now has the twelfth government since 1991, and the Lithuanian President has been impeached for his alleged ties with the mafia.

Historically Europe in the Orient, and South Asia is no exception, is associated with colonialism. British, French and the Dutch fought over the colonisation of India in which the British ultimately prevailed. Edward Said saw the Orient becoming Europe's greatest, richest and oldest colonies, a source of European civilisations and languages, its cultural contestant helping Europe to define its contrasting images and personality and its relationship with the Orient in the shape of power, domination and hegemony. Added to the burden of history was Giscard d'Estaing's observation that Turkey not being a European country should not be eligible for EU membership. As if to give life to Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilisations theory only a few days ago seven states led by Italy have urged EU to recognise a "historical truth" and refer explicitly to the "Christian roots of Europe" in its new constitution.

The preamble of the current draft treaty, drawn by Giscard d'Estaing's Convention, refers only to the "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe". Specifically mentioning Christianity or God was considered too controversial in the face of opposition of secular France and Protestant Sweden and Denmark. They and the British argue that religious references would exclude the Muslims and the Jews. Earlier the European Parliament rejected a proposal to mention Europe's "Judea-Christian roots". But largely Catholic states of Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Malta Portugal, Czech Republic and Slovakia have written to Ireland, the current EU President that "this issue remains a priority for our governments as well as for millions of European citizens". This issue is not expected to be settled before the Brussels Summit scheduled for June 17th (Christianity bedevils EU Treaty -Guardian May 25, 2004).

Perhaps one of the most important effects of the EU expansion would be felt in the European support or lack of it to the Bush doctrine of preemption and its application through Iraq invasion. Donald Rumsfeld's "old Europe" was used to a system of consultation among trans-Atlantic partners and sensitivity to each other's views, respect to international laws and institutions particularly the UN. Under the new system the US decides unilaterally and European allies, often without prior consultation, are expected to obey almost like a royal courtier whose influence is determined not by the force of his argument or merit but by his closeness to the royal being reminiscent of King Louis the XIV's famous remark "L'etat c'est moi"( I am the state). This passage to post-Atlanticism by the US was facilitated by the public support extended to the US position ( which was denied by Franco-German entente in the UNSC strengthened by Jacques Chirac's threat to veto any UNSC resolution sanctifying invasion of Iraq) by Rumsfeld's "new Europe" which effectively consisted of many new EU entrants.

The support then extended by these countries has now become muted as realisation has crept in that the Anglo-US misadventure in Iraq has made the world, particularly the West, less safer than it was before the Iraq invasion. Notwithstanding the insistence of the seven countries led by Italy on the incorporation of European Christian roots in the proposed Constitution, Europe would be well advised to steer clear of such clamour as Joseph Rumzo and Arvind Sharma of Harvard and Nancy Martin of Chapman University point out in their collection of articles( Human Rights and Responsibilities in the World Religions- 2003) that religions have too often been used to justify violation of human rights, in part to the hierarchical and selective use of role ethics and the postponement of temporal justice to divine judgment.

If we are to take Huntington's clash of civilisations theory and Bernard Lewis' critique on Islam as the heart of the agenda of the twenty-first century in our quest to find a balance in cross-civilizational and inter-faith conflicts bedeviling the world then the European Union must recognise its multi-racial, multi-religious, and multi-cultural personality. The new Europe has to admit that Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia were in sporadic contact with the West in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Classical eras, and in the twentieth century these countries emerging from Hapsburg and German empires did not truly participate in the artistic and spiritual creativity of the West. There would, therefore, be an inevitable cultural impact resultant of EU expansion and like a broken mirror the twenty-five EU members would have to embrace within itself a cultural diversity as India has done successfully for more than fifty years.

These are early days to predict how an expanded EU will operate effectively given the facts that Germany has more than eighty million people while Malta's population is less than one million as of Cyprus and those of the Baltic states are marginally more in number. Only Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic have reasonable population and resources to make qualitative contribution to EU economy at some distant future. While unlike NATO expansion EU expansion is not seen in Moscow with concern the new entrants particularly the Baltic States could be advised to restrain their anti-Russian sentiments however well grounded in history the negative factors may be. The expanded Europe may also have to fashion its American policy beyond Bush era and ensure that the iron curtain which had once descended upon Europe has irrevocably and irreversibly gone with the wind.

Kazi Anwarul Masud is a former Secretary and Ambassador.