On May 1 2004 eight countries situated in the region of Central and Eastern Europe: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia joined the European Union. Cyprus and Malta also become members on May 1 2004.
It was a historic moment since it ended officially the division of Europe decided by the ‘Great Powers’ 60 years earlier at the Yalta Conference in the Crimea. The Yalta Conference was held from 4-11 February 1945 and attended by the representatives of three countries: USA, Great Britain and the Soviet Union: President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. The division led to brutal communist oppression of the region resulting in human rights violation, death of many innocent people, countless deportations, persecutions, pain, suffering, hunger, fear, ruined lives of many generations.
Member States: Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Ireland, United Kingdom, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Finland and Sweden.
New Member States: Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.
Candidate Countries: Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
Image and description of the image: www.europa.eu
https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/history/2000-2009_en