Introduction
"A
day will come when all nations on our continent will form
a European brotherhood…A day will come when we shall
see… the United States of America and the United States
of Europe face to face, reaching out for each other across
the seas." Victor Hugo - 1848
The
statement above illustrates that the idea for a unified
Europe was not a new one. It had been talked about and
debated for many decades. But who could have envisioned
that Europe,
after having been almost totally destroyed by two World
Wars, would become one of the foremost economic powers
in the world in just fifty short years.
EU
Member Countries
Currently
Acceding countries are Bulgari and Romania; Candidate
countries included Croatia, The former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia, and Turkey.
EU
Candidate Countries
Potential
candidate countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo.
Other European Countries
The
EU implement a universal currency known as the Euro that
has further
united the Countries of Europe. Like other worldwide
currencies, the Euro fluctuates with the economy of Europe,
but is currently strong against many World currencies,
including the US Dollar.
Russian
Federation
The
Russian Federation is what is left of the former U.S.S.R. After
the fall of Communism in 1991, the country split into fifteen
new independent states. The Russian Federation is the largest
and most powerful of these states. Several states have
banded together to form the Commonwealth of Independent
States, which still claims loyalty to Russia. Others, such
as Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, have chosen to focus
their attention towards Eastern Europe. This change in
focus is made evident by their desire to be admitted into
the EU.
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