The 10 new member states
Although the 10 new countries scheduled to join are not strictly speaking members of the European Union yet, it was a diplomatic decision, taken at a later stage, to include them in the book, explains Trivizas: «All of them had to contribute to the building of the European nest.» «I achieved that,» he says, «by introducing into the story line the 10 children waiting outside the European Union building in Brussels, holding flowers or branches cut from trees and bushes of their respective countries. «I thought that it would look much nicer if in the double spread, the children were illustrated wearing ethnic costumes. «That meant that we had to find the necessary photographs and forward them to the illustrator. This was achieved at the last minute, thanks to the efforts of the indefatigable editor, who embarked on a frantic race against time, contacting the embassies of the 10 countries and asking for additional help. «I hope that history will prove the book right and the 10 countries will soon be members of the community.»
