The assembly, meeting in plenary for the last time in the current legislature, before the June elections, celebrated one week in advance the 20 years since the simultaneous accession to the EU of Cyprus, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and the Czech Republic, with the participation, among others, of the presidents of the European Commission and the European Parliament at the time of the 2004 enlargement, respectively the Italian Romano Prodi and the Irishman Pat Cox.

Speaking in the hemicycle, the President of the Parliament, Roberta Metsola, recalled that she herself, as a Maltese, is among the millions of Europeans who 20 years ago celebrated the dream of becoming part of the European Union.

"Like hundreds of people in this hemicycle and millions of Europeans across the continent, I will never forget where I was on the night between 30 April and 1 May 2004. 20 years ago, I was in Valletta, together with thousands of people, counting down as Malta, together with the others, joined the EU", she said.

Metsola commented that, "for millions", this accession represented "a renewed spirit, a sense of purpose, security, opportunity and prosperity".

"Before, we had a divided continent, but it became united, from north to south, from east to west, from the Balkans to the Mediterranean. Now, a generation later, the people of the Balkan countries, of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia also look to Europe with the same sense of hope and belief", she said.

For her part, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, highlighted what the 2004 enlargement represented for both the 10 countries involved and for the Union itself, considering that everyone benefited and that today it can be said that "the promise of freedom and stability, peace and prosperity has been fulfilled"

"Our fellow Europeans in the then new Member States have seen their countries transformed. Your economies have flourished. Your agricultural output has tripled. Your unemployment rates have halved. The power of Europe, together with your ingenuity, has brought a true economic miracle to all your countries. In so many different ways, Europe has made you stronger", she began by pointing out.

On the other hand, she continued, the accession of the 10 countries also made "Europe much stronger", because "citizens and businesses across Europe have benefited from new opportunities to study and work, export and invest in a larger Union".

"You have given us strength to respond to the geopolitical challenges we all face, from the resolute support of our eastern members for Ukraine to the leadership of Cyprus in opening a sea corridor for aid to Gaza. Thanks to you, Europe's voice on the world stage is much stronger", she said.

The ceremony was also attended by 10 young people born in the 10 'new' Member States in May 2004, who had the opportunity to ask questions to former politicians from their respective countries and to give an account of what it means to them to be EU citizens.

The major enlargement of 2004 would be followed by the accession of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 and Croatia in 2013, which at the time increased the number of EU Member States to 28, but since then the EU bloc has not only closed its doors to new entries, but has also lost the United Kingdom, which left the Union in 2020.

However, in recent years, and especially since the start of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, the enlargement process has gained new momentum and there are currently nine countries with official "candidate" status: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

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