ATHENS EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ENDS WITH JOINT DECLARATION

ATHENS, April 17 (Hina) - The presidents or prime ministers of some 40 European countries who participated in the European Conference in Athens ended the two-day summit on Thursday by adopting a joint declaration in which they stress their commitment to making the European continent an area of peace, stability, and prosperity. #L# The European leaders, including Croatian PM Ivica Racan, also stressed the need of cooperation between the European Union and its neighbours in eastern and southern Europe. The adopted declaration reads that peace, stability, and prosperity, as well as stronger cooperation in issues directly affecting people's lives should all be priority issues. The declaration further says that the current EU enlargement represented the confirmation of the joint values of democracy, rule-of-law, and respect for basic rights and freedoms currently prevalent in Europe. That points to the reality of the political and economic inter- dependence between the Union and its neighbours in the east and south, reads the declaration. The informal summit was organised by the Greek EU Presidency as part of an EU summit and the signing of EU admission agreements for ten new members, mostly from central and eastern Europe. (hina) ha