"A new era is dawning for the European Union. Ten new member states will join the union on 1 May, 2004, thereby bringing the post-war division of Europe to a peaceful conclusion. Enlargement lays the foundation for lasting peace, stability and prosperity for future generations. It is an inclusive and irreversible process" (Enlargement of the European Union, a European Commission document, 2003, p. 1).

These are the bold pronouncements of Günter Verheugen, member of the European Commission responsible for enlargement. Many of his contemporaries would agree with him. French historians also tend to link European unity with peace. One spoke of "the stable society created by Charlemagne."

But as the British magazine The Economist observed: "British historians are much less likely than their French counterparts to assume that European unity is necessarily synonymous with peace and cultural progress" (Jan. 3).

Only the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, can bring real peace to this war-weary world (Isaiah 9:6-7). Few regions have sustained more wars than Europe. Only divine intervention on a massive scale will turn the European continent and the entire world around and bless it with universal peace and prosperity. GN