Europe will not tolerate any more "dividing lines", a 40-nation conference declared as the EU prepares to push deep into ex-Soviet territory. The conference gathered the European Union with the expanding bloc's new neighbours to the south and east, including Russia and Turkey on Thursday, a day after 10 countries signed treaties to join the EU next year. In a declaration, the conference countries said they had met "at this moment of historic significance" to "reaffirm their determination not to tolerate any new dividing lines".