Poles affirm EU entry
According to psephologists, Polish voters have overwhelmingly affirmed membership of the European Union.
Should the television poll, which garnered the data, mirror official results, the east European country near the Baltic Sea will say goodbye to her communist past and join the EU in May 2004.
Nine other east European countries have also been asked to join the Union.
Malta, Slovenia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia have all voted to join the EU by May 1, 2004.
The Czech Republic will hold its referendum next week, with Latvia and Estonia to hold theirs in September.
Politicians will decide the verdict in Cyprus’ vote.
Of the interviewees in the snapshot of attitudes by the PBS polling agency, 18.1 per cent said ‘no’ to accession, with a massive 81.9 per cent backing EU entry.
A forecasted 56.1 per cent of Poland’s 29.8 million voters went to the polls in the two-day referendum.
Poland’s president Aleksander Kwasniewski said: ‘I can wholeheartedly say that we are returning to the great European family.’
The referendum gives the president the mandate to ratify Poland’s treaty with the EU, signed at an Athens summit in April
