ROME, (MILLAT/APP/AFP) – European Union leaders
celebrated the 60th anniversary of the bloc’s founding treaties at a special summit in Rome on Saturday in a symbolic show of unity despite Britain’s looming departure.
Meeting without Britain, the other 27 member countries will endorse a
declaration of intent for the next decade, on the Capitoline Hill where six
founding states signed the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957.
EU President Donald Tusk and the prime ministers of Italy and Malta
greeted the leaders as they arrived at the Renaissance-era Palazzo dei Conservatori next to the Forum, for a ceremony long on pomp and short on real politics.
“There will be a 100th birthday of the European Union,” European
Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview with German television ahead of the summit.
The leaders had the words of Pope Francis ringing in their ears,
after he warned on the eve of the summit that the crisis-ridden bloc “risks dying” without a new vision.
The Argentine pontiff urged the leaders at a personal audience in the
Vatican City on Friday to show solidarity as an “antidote” to populist parties whose popularity has surged in Europe.
The White House congratulated the EU overnight on its 60th birthday,
in a notable shift in tone for President Donald Trump’s administration, whose deep scepticism about the bloc has alarmed Brussels.
“Our two continents share the same values and, above all, the same
commitment to promote peace and prosperity through freedom, democracy, and the rule of law,” the White House said in a statement.