EU seeks post-Brexit unity by going back to roots at Rome

(front L to R) French President Francois Hollande, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy pose for a family photo during a meeting on the 60th anniversary of theTreaty of Rome, in Rome, Italy March 25, 2017. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

ROME (Reuters) - Europeans must contain their squabbling and carping about the EU if the Union is to survive, leaders warned on Saturday as they marked the 60th anniversary of its founding in Rome by signing a formal declaration of unity.

Four days before Prime Minister Theresa May, absent from the ceremony in the Italian capital, delivers an unprecedented blow to the bloc's growth by filing Britain's formal exit papers, her fellow leaders hailed 60 years of peace and prosperity and pledged to deepen a unity frayed by regional and global crises.