← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Madrid burns
Thread ID: 7238 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2003-06-10
2003-06-10 08:00 | User Profile
Poland votes yes to joining EU's big powers
[url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,7369,973524,00.html]http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,7369,...,973524,00.html[/url]
Ian Traynor in Warsaw Monday June 9, 2003 The Guardian
The European Union's ambitious project to admit eight post-communist countries next year passed its stiffest test yesterday when Polish voters gave a resounding thumbs-up to joining the union. By a sweeping margin of almost four to one, Polish voters said yes to joining the EU in what was hailed as the country's most important decision in a generation. It clears the way for the EU's biggest expansion next May.
"We've just witnessed a historic moment. I'm deeply moved," President Alexander Kwasniewski said, amid scenes of relief and celebration in Warsaw last night. "A big, proud, and ambitious nation is moving into the European Union."
Initial partial results showed that 78% of voters backed entry while 21% were opposed. But the figure that everyone was watching was the turnout: half the population, almost 15 million people, had to vote for the referendum to be valid.
According to projections, more than 59% turned out, empowering Mr Kwasniewski to ratify the accession treaty signed at the Athens summit in April.
"This is an incredible opportunity for Poland. How can we vote otherwise?" said Katarzyna, 29, at a Warsaw polling station.
In Lomna, a village half an hour from the capital, people streamed out of 11am mass to head for the polling station. One man said he had voted no because Poland had got a bad deal in its negotiations with Brussels. His wife said she had voted yes because Poland had no alternative.
For Poland, a country that lays fair claim to the saddest history in Europe, it is difficult to overstate the meaning of yesterday's verdict.
Preyed on by its more powerful German and Russian neighbours for centuries, Poland sealed its integration with the west and staked a claim to be the key emerging power in the region.
The Pope had described the vote as an opportunity to right historical wrongs. "We're bringing in great Polish potential," said the prime minister, Leszek Miller.
By far the biggest of the new members, Poland will rank among the big powers in the expanded union of 25, enjoying similar voting rights to Spain.
2003-06-10 09:09 | User Profile
Out of the old Soviet Union and into the new Soviet Union; at least they bring the number of anti-abortion states within the EU up to a grand total of three.
2003-06-11 00:16 | User Profile
**The Polaks have just proved that the jokes about them are all true. They realy are stupid! **
They are no different than all the others, including the historically neutral Swiss and the socially conscious Swedes.
Only the Brits seem to be balking at the prospect of incorporating the Euro. Of course they are more than making up for the oversight by their charitable policies pertaining to importation of savages. The respective paths of the Europeans differ ever so slightly but in all cases the final destination is the same, namely, national oblivion. We will have a better estimate of the time of arrival as soon as Turkey jumps on the EU train and begins serving the same cultural and genetic function that Mexico performs so well for the US. :dung:
2003-06-11 16:33 | User Profile
A sad day for Poland!
But I fear NAFTA will make E.U./E.E.C. look good!!!