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| | EU's May `big bang' to be followed by major challenges: ThePost.ie |
 | | This time, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will become EU member states, as will the Visegard countries of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, together with Slovenia and the tiny islands of Malta and Cyprus. |
 | | The scheduled expansion, coupled with elections to the EU parliament in June, will further stall agreement on a constitution. |
 | | Since being invited to join in 1998, the acceding states have worked hard to fulfil the `Copenhagen criteria', the economic and political conditions necessary for membership. |
| archives.tcm.ie /businesspost/2004/01/04/story433577060.asp (1345 words) |
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