Blue-and-gold EU flags fluttered across Bucharest and fireworks thundered through the sky at midnight in Romania and Bulgaria as the two Balkan nations became the latest countries to join the European Union. "It was hard, but we arrived at the end of the road. It is the road of our future. It is the road of our joy," Romanian President Traian Basescu said, prompting cheers from a crowd of tens of thousands of revelers packed into University Square. "We arrived in Europe. Welcome to Europe," Basescu said from a stage, where he was joined by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and government ministers. Foreign ministers of Germany, Denmark, Austria and Hungary, also attending, wished Romanian citizens a Happy New Year. Officials were flying later Monday to Bulgaria for celebrations. Romania and Bulgaria bring 30 million new members to the union, and expand the number of member nations in the bloc to 27. "Entering the European Union, we are assured peace and prosperity. This is an enormous chance for new generations," Basescu said as the clock ticked down to midnight. He later waved a huge Romanian flag and said he hoped Romanians would retain their national identity. In the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, thousands of revelers crammed in Battenberg Square cheered and embraced each other as the clock struck midnight. Fireworks lit the sky over the building where the Communist Party once held its headquarters, and the European Union's anthem sounded over loudspeakers. In an emotional address to the nation minutes before midnight, Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov called the country's EU entry a "heavenly moment." "The day we are welcoming -- January 1, 2007 -- will undoubtedly find its place among the most important dates in our national history," Parvanov said. "But let's make it clear -- our future success as a nation depends not on European funds and resources, but on our own work," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
