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Czechs Vote to Join European Union
A 82 year old voter studies the EU referendum ballot at her home on Friday June 13, 2003. Czech Republic holds this Friday and Saturday a referendum to decide on the countries entrance to European Union. Portable boxes are used for disabled or elder people. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

10:54 AM EST June 14, 2003
The Associated Press


PRAGUE, Czech Republic

Czechs voted overwhelmingly to join the European Union in a referendum, according to early official results released Saturday.

With 88 percent of the votes counted, 77 percent of the voters affirmed the measure, according to the state Statistical Office, which handles the vote count. Turnout was at 55 percent.

The vote opens the way for the former communist nation to be part of the largest expansion in the union's history, which will add 10 new members to the 15-nation union and bring it deep into central and eastern Europe.

"This is a victory for the Czech people," Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, an enthusiastic EU supporter, told reporters shortly after polls closed.

"The Czech Republic will ... be part of a family of European nations and exercise its right to live on equal footing with others," he added, alluding to fears that Czechs would sacrifice sovereignty by joining the growing trade bloc.

Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda said the vote marked "the conclusion of an era of our history following the fall of the totalitarian regime."

So far Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia have backed joining the EU in referendums. Latvia and Estonia will hold referendums in September, while Cyprus will leave it to its parliament to decide.

Many Czechs believe joining the EU will bring long-term economic benefits and raise living standards for future generations.

Some, however, expressed doubts ahead of the vote on whether the country - which overthrew communism in 1989 and split from Slovakia four years later - is ready to hand over its fate to an outside power.

"I voted yes because things can't get worse than they are now," said Jiri Ruzicka, a 38-year-old pub owner, as he cast his ballot in Prague on Saturday.

The government waged a "yes" campaign, but critics said it failed to explain why people should support EU membership or to address widespread fears that prices could rise steeply after joining the union.

The binding referendum is the first ever held in the Czech Republic and has no turnout requirement.

 
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